The Roanoke City Council last week unanimously approved refinancing parts of two bond issues to save money on interest payments. Mayor pro-tem Mack Arthur Bell presided in the absence of Mayor Mike Fisher.

Investment banker Bob Young of Frazer Lanier Company said he had good news--that they had gone into the market and refinanced parts of two bonds, getting a 2.8-percent interest rate compared to the old 4 to 4.5 rate. Over the life of the bond issues $277,000 will be saved in interest rates. The 2005 bond issue is for the jail and the 2011 one is for the schools.

Young said he is pleased the city maintains a Standard and Poor's A rating. He said he appreciated city clerk Penny Holloway, CPA David Denton and councilmen Bell and Smokey Cole sitting in on the telephone call to New York in the absence of Mayor Fisher, who is overcoming an illness.

Keeping the A rating says plenty about the way the city is handling the public's money, Young said. He said Opp was in the same market at the same time and Roanoke's rate was lower.

The council voted for unanimous consent so the ordinance could be considered, then voted to accept Ordinance #2015-4-01. This was a combined $5,865,000 bond issue. He said they hit a really good market, pretty close to a 50-year low.