Bond sale funds streets, parks, and more

The Broken Arrow City Council approved the sale of more than $26 million in General Obligation Bonds, including Series 2026A, Series 2026B, and Series 2026C.

The Council awarded the sale of Series 2026A for $9.77 million in 2018 General Obligation Bond funds for various streets, public safety, and stormwater projects.

The City received four bids by the 11 a.m. deadline on Nov. 3. The sale was facilitated by Jon Wolff, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Municipal Financial Services, Inc. in Edmond.

The Council authorized the solicitation of the bids in October, and a notice of the sale for the series was published and sent to prospective purchasers.

Wolff recommended that the Council award the sale to Robert W. Baird as the lowest-interest-rate bidder at 4.1402 percent.

"We've seen the markets fluctuate up and down the last week, and that continued through this morning," Wolff said. "The City came in positively based on where the market has been in the last month."

Four additional bids were received for the purchase of $14,750,000 in General Obligation Bonds Series 2026B.

Robert W. Baird was once again the lowest bidder.

The first two sales of the 2026 General Obligation Bond funds, approved by Broken Arrow voters in April, were awarded for improvements to streets, parks and recreation, and public facilities.

"This was technically the first sale under the election authorization of the $415 million, and Robert W. Baird's bid was a 4.1337 percent interest rate," Wolff said. "The interest rates are fairly close, and Robert Baird is a very aggressive bidder for Oklahoma bonds. They win a lot of General Obligation Bonds throughout the state."

Four bids were submitted for the $2 million bond sale from Series 2026C, which will fund a $1,156,000 stormwater project and $844,000 in drainage projects. Once again, Robert W. Baird had the lowest bid at 4.2155 percent.

"With every project, we try to meet the mill levy goals and targets," Wolff said. "This was a smaller issue set out over 20 years. It will have smaller principal payments, and it's a little tougher to sell."

Each sale passed with the Council's unanimous consent. The bonds will be funded in December.