Muscatine council approves $5.05 million bond sale at low rate; Moody's affirms AA2

The Muscatine City Council on May 5 authorized the sale and issuance of $5,050,000 in general obligation corporate purpose bonds, series 2026A, after hearing a report from finance advisor Suzanne Gerlach of PFM.

Gerlach told the council the city received six competitive bids in the sale and recommended awarding the bonds to Robert W. Baird. “The winning bid was from Robert w Baird… the true interest cost… 3.2048%,” Gerlach said, noting the result was favorable compared with recent sales. She also reported the second-place (cover) bid from TD Financial Products at 3.2757% and said the spread among bids was tight, indicating strong market interest.

Gerlach also called out a recent credit affirmation: “congratulations on Moody's investor service affirming the double A 2 credit rating of the city.” The council adopted the bond-authorizing resolution on a voice/roll-call vote with all ayes.

The bonds will be sold under the terms presented; council and staff said the proceeds will support the capital projects and purposes laid out in the resolution. PFM noted the true interest cost aggregates the pricing across the 10-year structure of the sale; the finance presentation and recommendation were recorded as part of the resolution packet and the council’s vote completed the authorization.