Henrico County officials yesterday completed a sale of $73.5 million in general obligation bonds to Barclays Capital, the successful bidder from a group of eight.

The bid for the 20-year bonds was made at an interest rate of 2.84 percent, according to Henrico Management and Budget Division Director Gene Walter.

"That's amazing," Walter told the Citizen. "Given the craziness of the stock market yesterday [a drop of more than 400 points], it just goes to show how high quality Henrico County bonds are."

The highest interest rate offered by a bidder yesterday was 3.08 percent – just one one-hundredth of a point higher than the rate Henrico received when it last sold bonds last year.

"And we thought that was an incredible rate at the time," Walter said.

Because the county budgets for an interest rate on bond sales of 6 percent, yesterday's sale resulted in a cost avoidance of $24.7 million, Walter said.

The bond money will fund school renovation projects, the construction of a new Dumbarton Library and a new Varina Library as well as two recreation and parks projects.