SAN FRANCISCO — The state of Oregon has saved more than $30 million this year after bringing two revenue refunding deals to market, according to State Treasurer Ted Wheeler.
Those deals included a highway user tax revenue bond deal in June and a lottery revenue bond deal in July.
"One of my goals is to save Oregonians money, and Treasury has developed a good track record in this area," Wheeler said in a statement. "The Debt Management Division deserves recognition for their work."
The state was able to take advantage of low interest rates and save around $30.6 million by refinancing some of its outstanding debt.
The first refunding deal included $194.5 million of Oregon Department of Transportation Highway User Tax Revenue Refunding bonds, and garnered interest rate savings of around $15.5 million.
The bonds were rated AAA by Standard & Poor's, Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service, and AA-plus by Fitch Ratings.
Citigroup priced the deal on June 25, with yields ranging from 1.4% with a 4% coupon in 2019 to 3.24% with a 4% coupon in 2031.
The second refinancing priced on July 16, saving the state another $15.1 million. The $213.7 million of Department of Administrative Services Lottery Revenue Refunding bonds were rated Aa2 by Moody's and AAA by Standard & Poor's.
Goldman Sachs was the lead underwriter. Yields ranged from 0.14% with a 5% coupon in 2015 to 2.8% with a 5% coupon in 2027.
Oregon also sold $590 million in one-year tax anticipation notes on June 17 with a 0.12% yield and a 2% coupon. The deal helped the state's general fund avoid net costs of $8.1 million in the coming fiscal year, according to the treasurer.
The state typically issues TANs each year in order to manage a structural misalignment between its cash inflows and outflows.
This year's deal was slightly smaller than borrowing for fiscal 2014, when the state issued $650 million of TANs.
According to the treasurer's office, the state has now saved more than $80 million since the beginning of 2013 by refunding bonds at lower rates.
The state's GO bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA-plus by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
