Keokuk, IA – Keokuk has until December 1 to pay back the $3.4-million dollars the city borrowed, last year, to rebuild Grand Avenue. That required a special meeting of the Keokuk City Council on Veterans Day.
Five members of the panel had to show up, Thursday, to make any decision and that is exactly how many did.
The city council agreed to sell about $4.2-million in bonds through UMB Bank (Kansas City, MO). Keokuk received an interest rate of roughly 3.6%.
Mayor Tom Marion says the city could use TIF district revenue to pay off the new loan. He says Keokuk could also look at property taxes, though the city does not want to do that after raising the rate by $1.00 last year.
The city will pay about $1.6-million in interest over the life of the loan.
Keokuk is borrowing an additional $800,000. That money will be used to pay off previous bonds for street and sewer work completed this year.