City Council Unloads Bonds Under Heavy Scrutiny
North Yakima successfully sells $30,000 in municipal bonds after a previous attempt failed to draw interest, but local observers remain cynical about the deal's profit margins.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Monday was the day set for the opening of the bids for $30,000 of North Yakima six per cent, bonds, running 25 years, with the privilege of redemption after 15 years. There were but two bids in, and they were opened by the city clerk at the session of the council Monday night. The first bid was by N. W. Harris & Co., of Chicago, who offered to take the bonds at 1 1/2 per cent discount. The other bid was by the Rollins Investment company, of Denver, Col., who offered 92 per cent for the bonds. Mr. Whipple, representing Harris & Co., informed the council that the present bonds would not answer, as the form was unsatisfactory, but he would have new bonds issued at a cost to the city not to exceed $50. This bid being the best, it was accepted by unanimous vote. Money changers who have been buying warrants at eighty cents on the dollar will have made a fat thing on them. It will be remembered that these same bonds were offered for sale in December, when 80 cents was bid and refused.
“If this is a fact, money changers who have been buying warrants at eighty cents on a dollar will have made a fat thing on them.”
Municipal bond issuance remains a standard tool for Yakima's infrastructure development, mirroring how the city has navigated its growth since its earliest days. The tension between municipal finance, outside investors, and local scrip holders persists as a recurring theme in city governance.
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