A proposed refinanced loan for the Southern Pines Fire and Rescue Department’s second fire station could save taxpayers about $350,000 to $389,000 in interest costs.
The town currently owes 25 annual payments with an outstanding principal estimated at $4.35 million on a 15-year loan with BB&T Bank at a 3.53 percent interest. During a public hearing held Wednesday, Town Manager Reagan Parsons presented the updated refinancing plan with a 2.06 percent interest rate.
“At the time we received (the original loan) that was a very good rate,” Parsons said. “But this is, proverbially speaking, an offer we could not refuse.”
He credited Tess Brubaker-Speis, who heads up the town’s finance department, with actively working with BB&T, now Truist, to negotiate the new loan terms.
Parsons reiterated the loan does not include any new debt service and said interest payments, this year alone, would decrease from $76,897 to $44,874.