Minnesota plans a $1.27 billion general obligation bond sale in the competitive market Sept. 23.
Bond proceeds will fund capital projects, state trunk highway system maintenance and refundings of earlier series of bonds.
"Minnesota is looking to raise funds to support ongoing infrastructure projects around the state," Jennifer Hassemer, assistant commissioner for debt management, told The Bond Buyer by email. "It has been about a year since our last general obligation bond sale and this keeps the state on its annual issuance cadence."
Public Resources Advisory Group serves as municipal advisor on the deal. Kutak Rock is bond counsel, according to the
Hassemer said the state will make "significant investments in roads and bridges, parks and trails, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure," as well as asset preservation.
The proceeds of the $550.4 million of Series 2025A various purpose bonds and $25.6 million of Series 2025C taxable various purpose bonds will fund state programs and capital projects, according to the
Proceeds of the $294.9 million of Series 2025B state trunk highway bonds will fund the construction, improvement and maintenance of the state highway system.
Proceeds of the $236.19 million of Series 2025D various purpose refunding bonds will refund the Series 2015A GO various purpose bonds and the Series 2015D GO various purpose refunding bonds.
And the proceeds of the $158.69 million of Series 2025E state trunk highway refunding bonds will refund the Series 2014E state trunk highway refunding bonds; the Series 2015B state trunk highway bonds; and the Series 2015E state trunk highway refunding bonds.
"We are looking to current refund bonds from 2014 and 2015 that have reached their 10-year call date in order to realize some economic savings for both the general fund and the trunk highway fund," Hassemer said. "We believe the savings potential is there in the current environment to support the planned structure."
Fitch Ratings, Moody's Ratings and S&P Global Ratings assign the deal a triple-A rating and a stable outlook.
In its rating report, Moody's pointed to Minnesota's high fund balances, modest long-term leverage and significant financial flexibility. It also praised higher-than-expected revenue performance as helping to counterbalance a funding gap of about 3% of revenue through 2027.
Fitch noted the state's "historically strong control over revenue and spending that, in conjunction with a sophisticated approach to reserve funding, leaves Minnesota well-positioned to manage through economic cycles."
It also cited the state's history of building up its reserves during recovery periods and Minnesota's mechanisms to put a share of surplus revenue into its budget reserve fund annually as a buffer against revenue volatility.
S&P said its AAA rating reflects all of the above and the state's favorable economic profile. With conservatively managed debt and liabilities, well-funded pensions and limited fixed cost exposure, it said, the state is in a good position to handle medium-term risks including federal policy changes.
"The enacted 2026-2027 biennial budget is, in our view, credit neutral in that it does enough to narrow the outyear budget gap to preserve the state's currently stable fiscal alignment, while leaving budgetary reserves at peer-comparable levels," S&P said in its rating report.
