LA PLATA — Charles County borrowed $93.2 million on Oct. 27 to pay for school renovations, new school construction, water and sewer work, roads and parks, locking in an interest rate of about 4.03% after 15 banks and investment firms bid on the bonds.
JPMorgan won the county’s annual bond sale with a bid of 4.026792%, according to a Charles County Government summary of the Oct. 27 Board of County Commissioners meeting, released Oct. 29.
The rate matters because taxpayers repay these bonds, with interest, over the coming decades through the county’s general fund and, for water and sewer projects, through utility customers. A lower rate means more of each dollar goes to buildings and pipes rather than to lenders. The county did not release the total interest cost over the life of the bonds.
What the money builds
The bonds support the county’s Capital Improvement Program. The county listed these major project types:
- Additions and renovations to Board of Education buildings, plus new school construction
- Water and sewer projects and environmental service fund projects
- Road, bridge and sidewalk upgrades and drainage improvements
- Watershed protection and stream restoration
- General government facility improvements and park projects
The county’s summary did not break down how much goes to each category. In September, the plan presented to commissioners for a roughly $100 million issue put $47.8 million toward water and sewer, $16.75 million toward general government facilities, $16 million toward school renovations and $8.9 million toward new school construction, with smaller amounts for transportation, watershed protection, environmental services and parks.
Smaller than planned, bigger than last year
The final sale came in below two earlier figures. S&P Global Ratings assigned its AAA rating to $95.8 million in series 2026 bonds when all three major agencies reaffirmed the county’s top credit rating for a 10th straight year this month, and the September plan called for about $100 million. The county’s release did not explain the roughly $2.6 million difference between the rated amount and the amount sold.
Even so, the borrowing is well above the county’s $75 million bond issue in 2025, a jump of about 24%.
Charles went into the sale with AAA ratings from Fitch, Moody’s and S&P, the highest grade a local government can get, which typically lowers what a county pays to borrow. Next door, Calvert County, which also holds a AAA rating, sold $78.9 million in bonds this fall at 4.66%. Rates on different bond issues depend on their size, maturities and market conditions on the day of sale, so the two are not a direct comparison.
The same Oct. 27 meeting also set Nov. 17 public hearings on a county employee collective bargaining bill and a pretrial release program, and passed a bill allowing mixed housing types in medium- and high-density residential zones. The full list of briefings and approvals is posted in the commissioners’ meeting archive.
