With interest rates too low to resist, the Palmerton Borough Council opted to allow a financial consultant pursue refinancing some debt.

Zach Williard, a senior managing consultant for Public Financial Management Inc. in Harrisburg, told the borough council that they could see upward of $69,000 in savings if they refinance a $2.4 million municipal bond from 2011, which was originally $9.5 million.In April 2015, the borough refinanced just over $7 million of that bond and saved $380,000 in doing so. Then in June 2015, the municipality secured a $2.5 million bank loan for upcoming capital projects throughout the borough.Williard said the refinanced amount and the bank loan equaled just under $10 million. This allowed the borough to qualify for a lower interest rate.Now with interest rates even lower than they were last year, he suggests that the borough refinance the remaining $2.4 million remaining from the 2011 bond. The interest rate on the remaining amount is 3.25 percent. The current rate for refinancing is about 2.5 percent.Although it's not as large of a savings as when the borough refinanced the $7 million, "This is a nice way of saving almost $70,000," he said.Williard reminded the council that the savings is not in the form of a $70,000 check, but would be a budgetary savings. He also told them that he thinks the borough would probably see the highest savings from a bank loan bonds. Often bonds have lower interest rates, but higher fees than bank loans, he said.With the council's approval, he said he would look into the bond market and the bank loan market and come back to them in a month with his recommendations. There wouldn't be any cost incurred to the borough for him to look into the markets.Palmerton Borough Council President Terry Costenbader said, "For an extra $70,000, I think it's a good idea."The rest of the council agreed.Williard asked the council to set a minimum amount of savings they would consider pursuing.Palmerton Mayor Christopher Olivia said, "A few years ago, we set it at $40,000, which is a nice savings."In her role as finance committee chairperson, Holly Sell read the motion giving Public Financial Management the authority to explore refinancing the municipal bond with a set minimum savings of $40,000.