District of Columbia officials are contemplating the possibility of refunding $150 million to $300 million of outstanding debt in an effort to pare interest rate costs.
Ellen M. O'Connor, the city's deputy mayor for finance, said the district might be able to achieve as much as $48 million in present value savings from a refunding. "We're doing the Irish jig about that" she said.
However, she said that "rates are still zooming all over," making it difficult to tell precisely how beneficial a refunding would be.
In other developments, O'Connor said Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly probably will unveil a plan next month for reforming the city's pension system and eliminating its $4.6 billion unfunded liability.
O'Connor said that while the details are still being worked out, all parties with a stake in the pension system will be asked to share the pain. Those include the federal government, from whom the district government inherited the system and much of the unfunded liability.
