Colorado residents will have the opportunity to purchase bonds for the Denver Justice Center construction at a tenth of their traditional cost, officials said Tuesday.
Denver Mini-Bonds will be sold April 2-6 and cost $500. Officials expect to raise between $3 million and $6 million.
“We’re making this opportunity available to small investors,” said Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz. “Why not have the taxpayer who is paying for the project also benefit from the interest?”
Taxpayers approved a $378 million resolution to fund the Justice Center in 2005. The city issued two traditional bond series in 2005 and 2006.
The lower-cost bonds will be sold April 2-6 by calling 720-865-7154 or through www.denvergov.org/Treasury. The forms can then be dropped off at select Wells Fargo branches, but the bonds cannot be purchased directly through Wells Fargo. Individuals can buy up to 40 certificates.
The bonds will mature in 2022 when their worth will double to $1,000, based on a tax-free, annual interest rate of 4.75 percent, said Alan Nuss, senior financial-management analyst for the city’s Department of Revenue.
Denver previously issued Mini- Bonds in 1992 and 1999.
In both cases, the city raised around $4 million, Nuss said.
It took two bond cycles to introduce the bonds because the city needed time to allocate manpower and market the series, he said.
“Before we agreed to go out to the population, we discussed a Mini- Bond, but there was no requirement for when we would do it,” Faatz said.
Traditional municipal bonds sell for $5,000 and are open to a national pool of investors.
The revenue raised from the sale of the bonds will pay for the construction of roughly half a block of the Justice Center, said James Mejía, Justice Center policy manager.
The bonds would finance projects as varied as three courtrooms, 100 jail cells or the cost of a professional staff for one of the buildings, he said.
Staff writer Gabriela Resto-Montero can be reached at 303-954-1638 or grestomontero@denverpost.com.
Justice Center
To purchase Mini-Bonds, visit www.denvergov.org/Treasury or call 720-865-7154.
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, it incorrectly stated that mini bonds to be issued for the construction of the new Denver Justice Center are available for purchase at Wells Fargo locations. Order forms for the bonds to be sold April 2-6 are available only by calling 720-865-7154 or through www.denvergov.org/Treasury. The forms can then be dropped off at select Wells Fargo branches, but the bonds cannot be purchased directly through Wells Fargo.
