The village of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, sold $45.5 million in bonds to make capital improvements, including the construction of new police and fire stations.
The bonds mature between 2024 and 2033, yielding between 3.04% and 3.39%. They pay interest at 4%. The securities received a rating of AA from S&P Global Ratings.
“The notes are issued for public purposes, including paying capital improvement costs of projects included in the village’s capital improvement plan including construction of the new police station and fire station, paving, remodeling of buildings, purchasing fire and rescue vehicles and a plow truck,” according to the official statement accompanying the sale of the bonds.
The issuance comes amid increasing interest in public safety infrastructure in Pleasant Prairie. Last year, voters in the village passed a referendum that required the village to increase its annual tax levy by $1.6 million to hire more police officers and fire and rescue staff. The police and fire and rescue departments are respectively the first and second largest expenditures in the village’s budget, each costing more than $4.5 million per year.
Pleasant Prairie is a village of 22,000 just south of Kenosha, bordering Illinois to the south and Lake Michigan to the east. The village is about equidistant between Chicago and Milwaukee. The bonds are general obligations of Pleasant Prairie, backed by its full faith and credit and payable by property taxes.
Piper Sandler & Co served as underwriter on the issuance, purchasing the bonds for almost $47 million. The price reflected an original issue premium of $1.8 million.