Council approves fairgrounds refinancing proposal

Last night, Springfield City Council unanimously approved a pair of bills allowing the city to issue $497,000 in special obligation bonds to refinance a construction loan on the Ozarks Empire Fairgrounds Center Hall.

The proposal, requested by the Agricultural and Mechanical Society of Springfield, which manages the property, would shrink its $10,000 monthly lease payments, said Tom Kissee, president of the society’s board of directors, who spoke when the bills were introduced to council at its Feb. 25 meeting.

Springfield Finance Director Mary Mannix Decker said the interest rate on the bonds would be 3.75 percent, down from the current rate of 6 percent. Decker said the city submitted several proposals to area banks before Kansas-based Farmers Bank was selected to issue the bonds. She said only one local bank showed an interest in issuing the bonds, and its proposal did not meet the terms of the request.

According to the new lease agreement, which was amended as part of council’s actions, the Agricultural and Mechanical Society shall pay a rent fee of $6,500 through October 2015, then $7,500 through the same month in 2020, increasing to $8,500 through October 2025 before rising to $9,500 through October 2030. The new agreement goes into effect April 1.

Councilman Doug Burlison asked Decker why local banks didn’t show an interest in issuing the bonds. Decker said it was her sense that they preferred commercial loans, and were not accustomed to dealing with municipalities with these kinds of loan arrangements.