The city of North Battleford has unanimously passed amendments to two of its borrowing bylaws on Monday, to reflect more favorable rates the city is receiving on banker's acceptance fees with the Royal Bank.
According to finance director Byron Tumbach, who spoke at Monday's meeting, the city had enacted two borrowing bylaws in 2009 to borrow $1.76 million for the Kinsmen storm sewer and the second was for new development initiatives under SIGI for $3.22 million. Both arrangements were done through swap financing instruments with the Royal Bank, with the credit spreads or stamping fees set at .85 percent for both of them.
Follow their annual review this year, Royal Bank offered repricing to the city on their stamping fees, and after reviewing the offer the city decided it was in their interests to negotiate lower stamp fees for a longer period of time.
The city accepted the offer by Royal Bank of .45 percent over five years for the storm sewer borrowing. That runs to August 4, 2016. For the SIGI agreement borrowing, the stamp fee was reduced to .40 percent as that agreement ran for less than the five year term, to September 4, 2014.
Two separate bylaws passed easily to revise the existing borrowing bylaws, with the wording ".85 percent" replaced in both bylaws by ".45 percent" in one bylaw and ".40 percent" in the other. The revised loan terms were also reflected in the bylaw revisions.
The revised bylaws passed unanimously in three readings at council Monday.
