HONOLULU – The City and County of Honolulu on Monday, July 28, 2025, completed its sale of general obligation bonds, 2025 Series G, in the sum of $38 million. The net proceeds from the Series G bond sale will be used to refinance all of its outstanding Build America Bonds (BABs) to further reduce City debt service and avoid the possible adverse impact of the loss of federal subsidies that would increase the interest cost on the BABs. The bond indenture for the BABs requires the sale of refunding bonds to happen within 72 hours of the July 31, 2025, call date of the BABs.
The City’s 2025 Series A through G general obligation bond sales totaled $734.1 million. As earlier reported, the net proceeds from the bond sales will finance capital improvement projects and equipment needs across Oʻahu, as well as to fund the ongoing construction of the Skyline rail project and capital improvements to the City’s stormwater and solid waste facilities, and the refinancing of outstanding general obligation bonds and BABs that will save the City an estimated $41.3 million in debt service.
The bonds were rated “AA+” by Fitch and “AA+” by Standard & Poor’s, both with “Stable” outlooks. In affirming the City’s AA+ rating, S&P cited Honolulu’s strong and stable financial position, with robust reserves, expectation for ongoing budgetary balance, and tenured executive leadership with well-defined financial management and oversight practices.
More than 40 institutional investors and numerous individual investors placed orders on the bonds, with an average interest rate of 3.69%.
The successful sale of bonds resulted from the City’s comprehensive investor outreach effort through the support of its underwriters led by BofA Securities Inc. and co-managers Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Raymond James & Associates Inc., and Stifel, Nicolaus & Associates Inc.
