Jefferson County lacks debt management policy- al.com
You pretty much don’t want to read this in the newspaper:
When it comes to managing its debt and credit situation, Jefferson County has pretty much just been winging it.
The state’s most populous county, teetering toward bankruptcy after amassing $3.2 billion of sewer debt, lacks a modern and comprehensive policy covering the sale of bonds, the hiring of underwriters and dozens of other facets of municipal finance.
“Winging it”. Right there in the lede.
About 90 percent of the sewer bonds - and 40 percent of $1 billion in school bonds - are variable-rate securities. That means the interest rate the county pays to the bondholders changes based on an underlying formula or a periodic auction. The Government Officers Finance Association recommends limiting the use of variable-rate debt because of the risks.
Where was the Government Officer Finance Association when people were getting variable-rate mortgages on their homes?
1 response so far ↓
walt moffett // May 11, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Where was good sense when people took out variable rate loans and home equity lines of credit? Or when bankers approved mortgages without the usual sober assessment of risk?
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