911 center moves forward with high bond rating

Boone County officials said the new emergency call center near Columbia is still moving forward. On Thursday, the special obligation bonds that will be used to pay for the state-of-the-art facility earned a high credit rating, which could save taxpayers some money.

Last week, Boone County commissioners awarded an almost $10 million bid to a Columbia company called Little Dixie for construction of the emergency management center.

To pay for the facility, the county will be issuing special obligations bonds to bidders. Moody’s gave those bonds the second highest rating possible.

“The AA2 is a high rating, and so what it’s telling the market, is that this is a low risk investment and what that translates into are lower interest costs when we sell our debt,” said Nicole Galloway, treasurer for Boone County.

Voters approved a 911 sales tax back in April 2013. The money from that tax will pay off the issued bonds over the next 20 years.

The beneficial part of having the high bond credit rating is that it will lower the interest rate on Boone County’s bond debt.

Officials said the bonds will be open for bidders next Thursday.