Bloomington is getting ready to pay off 4 sets of its bonds ahead of schedule. Item 3.4 on the City Council's Monday, Oct. 12 agenda is a set of resolutions authorizing the "full optional redemption" of the city's Series 50, Series 2016C, Series 51 and Series 2019A bonds. The council hasn't voted yet.
The item is under Consent Business. That's the block of routine items the council usually approves in a single vote without discussion, unless a council member pulls one out to talk about it separately. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Bloomington Civic Plaza, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Rd. The same night, the council also has a public hearing on a street-project assessment roll and budget discussions with several city departments.
Here's the jargon decoded. An "optional redemption" is when a borrower chooses to repay bonds before their final due date, once the bond terms allow an early call. "Full" means the city would retire everything still owed on each series, not just part of it. Cities usually do this when they have cash on hand to cover the balance, or when clearing the debt early saves on interest. In plain terms, Bloomington is paying down its mortgage early.
The city's own disclosure documents for investors show what these bonds paid for. 3 of the series are tied to the city's Permanent Improvement Revolving Fund, the account Bloomington uses for infrastructure and capital projects. Series 50 was issued Dec. 8, 2016, for $6,115,000 and isn't due to be fully repaid until Feb. 1, 2037. Series 2016C was issued the same day for $3,730,000, as a mix of new improvement money and refunding of older debt, with a final maturity of Feb. 1, 2029. Series 51 was issued Dec. 6, 2017, for $6,720,000 and matures Feb. 1, 2028. The 4th series, 2019A, is a set of charter bonds for Bloomington Ice Garden, issued for $1,645,000.
Those are the original amounts, which add up to about $18.2 million. They aren't what the city would actually write a check for now.
The public agenda still doesn't give the rest of the picture: no remaining balances, no redemption dates, no source of the payoff cash and no estimate of savings. We'll add them here once they're confirmed. Bond investors can follow the city's filings on its investor information page.
What's next: if the consent agenda passes as written on Oct. 12, the resolutions authorize the redemptions. The city would then call the bonds and pay bondholders under the terms of each series. Residents can watch the meeting live.
