The Austin Housing and Redevelopment Authority wanted help refinancing a bond.

The county board, voicing concern over taking on new debt, said “no.”

And while the decision likely won’t sink the Chauncey Apartments — the building supported by the bond — HRA officials are nonetheless shocked and disheartened.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” HRA executive director and city administrator Jim Hurm said. “Maybe we can go back to the drawing board.”

The HRA wanted the county to support refinancing on a $6.8 million bond — a move that was projected to save the authority roughly $4 million over a 20-year period because the county has the capacity to take on the debt and could have bonded at a better rate.

Instead, the HRA will now possibly look at its own refinancing, which could save roughly $2 million in the same period, HRA officials say.

By a vote of 4-1, the Mower County Board of Commissioners decided helping the HRA would be too risky and could unfairly burden constituents outside the city.

Commissioner David Hillier said he was concerned the county would ultimately be on the hook for the debt.

“I don’t know if (the county) should take on any new financial commitments,” he added.

The county is already dealing with roughly $26 million in bonding for the forthcoming jail and justice center.

Dick Lang, the fourth district commissioner, echoed Hillier’s sentiments.

“We have to watch our checkbook,” he said.

Board chairman Dave Tollefson, who was the lone dissenting vote, said he saw the potential savings as a big plus for the HRA.

“We’re sticking our necks out, I realize that,” he said. “But we’re pretty secure.”

And certainly a number of securities would have been worked into any agreement.

For one, the HRA would have agreed that the debt would be the first thing paid as apartment revenue came in.

The authority would have also been required to designate a 12-month reserve for debt payments and possibly — depending on state law — levy for funds if the money to pay off the bond wasn’t there.

Hurm and HRA accountant Sherri Detloff were both hoping the board would feel secure enough to help refinance at Chauncey.

The apartment complex, which was built in 2001, is not doing as well financially as its neighbor — the 13-year old Austin Courtyard, which HRA refinanced several years ago.

The two HRA officials feel a refinance at Chauncey could bring the two buildings closer to even.

While Hurm said it’s impossible to correlate the bond issue directly with rental rates, he did say he hoped costs could remain static at Chauncey.

The market-rate rental building has been roughly 98.5 percent full since it opened, Detloff said, with a large number of residents being seniors.

Hillier expressed some concern that changing demographics in Mower County, combined with increased housing options, could lead to more vacancies at Chauncey — and more risk for the county if they were involved with bonding.

But Hurm and Detloff said they are confident the building will remain near capacity, even without county-supported refinancing.

“It’s always been about 1.5 percent vacant,” Detloff said.