POULSBO — The City of Poulsbo re-funded two bond issues and, as a result, will save around $317,000, according to Debbie Booher, city finance director.

The bonds were issued in 2005 and 2009 to cover costs of developing City Hall. The reason they were re-funded was solely to save the city money. The re-funding process enabled the city to get lower interest rates.

“It’s kind of like refinancing a loan,” Booher said, “but it doesn’t start the 20- year (repayment) again.”

Booher said the city re-funded them now because the 2005 bond had a “10-year call,” meaning the city couldn’t refund it sooner without interest rates spiking. It re-funded the 2009 bond now because it didn’t have the 10-year requirement.

The 2005 bond was issued with a 20-year payment schedule, meaning it will be paid off completely by 2025. The 2009 bond was issued with a 25-year pay period, so the last payment will be in 2033, Booher said.

“We saved probably $40,000 to $50,000 each year,” Booher added.

As part of the re-funding process, the city went through an insurance rating process with Standard and Poor’s Rating Services, and was able to maintain its AA rating, which means the city was deemed to have a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments.

“AA is very good for a city our size,” Booher said.

The 2005 and 2009 bond issues are not the only ones the city has. Poulsbo also has a 2012 bond issue that Booher said is not financially “advantageous” to re-fund because its “call date is further out there.”

The City of Poulsbo also has a small loan on the parks and recreation building and a bond issue for transportation, the latter of which was re-funded a couple years ago.