Gadsden council votes to refinance bonds

The Gadsden City Council voted Tuesday to begin the process of refinancing about $9.46 million in bonds which is expected to save the city a little more than $1 million.  The city had looked at refinancing the bonds last year and had hoped to save $1.4 million at that time. However, market conditions changed before the process could be completed and since no savings would have been realized, the effort was abandoned.  Representatives of Piper Jaffray said based on current market conditions, the city would realize up front savings of $907,000 in August and total savings over the life of the bonds of 11.3 percent.  The bonds were issued for school and other city projects.  The money saved is to be used for capital projects and some of the funds that will be realized would go to Gadsden City Schools. City officials said they want to designate it for specific projects.