For the first time since 2022, Maui County is planning to offer approximately $301.8 million in general obligation bonds for public sale to fund key projects.

According to the Maui County Department of Finance, the planned sale reflects the county’s excellent financial standing.

According to the finance department, the county will offer approximately $301.8 million in bonds through a public sale at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday (11:30 a.m. EDT).

The sale will take place electronically via the Bidcomp/Parity system, which is used by institutional investors to submit competitive bids on municipal bonds.

The county plans to use the bond sales to fund capital improvement projects, including the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art cultural center in Wailuku, the Waiʻale Road extension in Wailuku and Lahaina wastewater improvements.

“The County’s strong bond ratings reflect Maui’s resiliency, liquidity and strong financial management,” County Finance Director Marcy Martin said in a news release.

“The Government Finance Officers Association considers a competitive bid sale to be best practice for highly rated general obligation bonds like those issued by Maui County,” Martin added. “We believe that returning to the competitive sale approach is in the best interest of our County and its taxpayers.”

The county’s municipal advisor for the bond issue, Curt de Crinis of Columbia Capital, said the bonds carry “Maui’s very high ratings of Aa2/AA+/AA+ affirmed from the three major bond rating agencies, Moody’s, S & P Global and Fitch.”

The bonds will be sold by competitive bid to the underwriting firm or firms that submit the bid with the lowest true interest cost on the bid date. The competitive sale approach was used in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018 with favorable results, according to the finance department.

The county’s most recent bond sale in 2022 was done through a negotiated sale.