Julie Davis, the county finance director, received permission from the Board of Commissioners this week to hire First Southwest, a Charlotte-based financial advisory firm, to look into it.
Haywood County currently has about $71.1 million in outstanding debt in 14 different past projects, including the justice center, the historic courthouse renovations, the new Department of Social Services building, and numerous schools. Its interest rates range from as low 1.69 percent to as high as five percent.
Refinancing could possibly save the county $35,000 to $45,000 per year in its various loan payments, according to a report by Davis.
“It looks like it’s going to make sense to do a re-funding,” Davis said.
How much the county pays each year varies but currently it shells out about $9.4 million yearly toward its debt.
The contract between the county and First Southwest is contingent on how many of its outstanding bonds and loans it decides to refinance. However, if the county decides not to refinance anything, it could still be assessed a fee, estimated between $15,000 and $20,000 for the financial services.
Stephen Dobyns has written 20 novels and more than 10 volumes of poetry; however, he is difficult to “classify.” His writing is praised by big league names as varied as Francine Prose and Stephen King, but he is most famous for a “sexual harassment” charge brought against him while he was teaching at Syracuse University (allegedly, he was overheard making “salty and crude” comments at a party).
