City wrestles with bond financing options

With the completion of several road projects recently, the Sidney City Council turned its attention to long term financing at its regular meeting this week, and found its options somewhat limited.

Over time, the city will need to obtain bonds for up to around $14 million, and council members wrestled not only with the size of the bonding – which is much larger than previous needs – but also concern over whether or not it can get a favorable bond rating, and the lower interest rates that such a rating can give.

The city’s immediate need to cover outstanding warrants is about $6 million, which i...