REFUNDING BONDS... saving money or more "no bid vendors" profiting? Also: financials and audit.

Hi All,
Meeting is not on regular day.
The Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26, 2016 @ 7 PM.    

The REFUNDING BOND issue is back on the agenda.  This entire process seems so wrong... but typical of the Savoie regime.  Where is competitive bidding?  Supervisor Leo Savoie and Treasurer elect Brian Kepes both appear to have conflict of interests and should not be doing business with Fifth Third Bank for our township.  Serious conflict of interest.  Should be investigated.  Should have competitive bidding as requested by Trustee Buckley and current Treasurer Devine at the 9/26/16 Board of Trustees meeting.  Looking at this 10/26/16 agenda (or at end of this blog). Savoie and Kepes doing what they want with whom they want and some Trustees most likely will go along for the ride and not vote in the best interests of the citizens.  My opinion based on past voting.    See my previous blog written after the 9/26/16 meeting about this refunding bonds issue.

$34,750,000  in 2007 for  Water and Sewer Bonds and Campus Construction Bonds  with  10 years of payments....mostly interest payments, as I pointed out.... (Mr. Savoie didn't know this, he thought the township was making level principal payments)   comes this resolution at the end of 2016  to authorize General Obligation Limited Tax Refunding Bonds for a combined total of $29,200,000.   How much are the payments to the vendors listed below and are there others to be paid?  Please take the time to listen to the Board of Trustees meeting from Sept. 26, 2016  and how the township and the public discussed this topic of rebonding, competitive bidding and conflict of interest.   Continue to listen to the program up to the board leaving for the closed session so you can hear the public comments.
https://vimeo.com/184514876
 FYI: 
(Closed session:  the Board did come back to make a motion and take a vote on the defined benefit pension plan:  continue to listen to end of video.) 
See also my blog on this pension topic @ http://bloomfieldtwphappenings.blogspot.com/2016/09/decision-for-173-retire-before-12216-or.html

Below are listed the "usual"  vendors collecting their fees with no known competitive bid process.  Note the words:  "appointed to act" .    


When will the millions of debt finally get paid? It was said that the debt will not extended beyond the original time frame.   Call date is May 1, 2018 @ par.   Length of terms: W&S to 2027 and Construction Bonds to 2032.  Actual total principal still mentioned:  $28,700,000/  and the bond is stated as not to exceed $29,200,000 (do they need $500,000 for vendors?). 

To me that means that the township over the first 10 years of the 20/25 years only managed to eliminate a total of $5,550,000  in principal. (Lots more in interest payments).
That means to me that the township will need to pay $28,700,000 in principal plus interest.... in the next 10-15 years if the debt will not extend beyond the original time frame. 

Trustee Brian Kepes said he was given the opportunity by Leo Savoie... to "try to save this community money".  I, for one, would like to see documents that show costs to do this deal and documents showing where and how the savings will materialize for the taxpayers.  Those documents are not in the board packet.  I don't trust our township leadership.  This is not open and transparent.  Go to:
http://bloomfieldtwpmi.minutesondemand.com/      Board of Trustees/  Board Packet/  2016/ Oct. 26

 Below are just SOME paragraphs from the resolutions.....



 

AND..........




 Check out the language for the new "not to exceed" % per annum for the different bonds (5%-6%). While I will agree that currently interest rates are at an all time low, why can't this resolution state a  "not to exceed"  % number  that is NOT more than the  % currently paying on the existing bond agreement? Why do these resolutions allow for the possibility of higher interest rate percentages?




AND MORE  REFUNDING BONDS:





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 FINALLY.........

Take a look at the FINANCIAL and INVESTMENT reports ending Sept. 30, 2016  found in the BOARD PACKET @ http://bloomfieldtwpmi.minutesondemand.com/     Board of Trustees/ BOARD PACKET/ 2016/ Oct. 26

Take a look at the 2015 AUDIT @     http://bloomfieldtwpmi.minutesondemand.com/   Board of Trustees/ BOARD PACKET/ 2016/ Oct. 10