The Office of the Washington state Treasurer (OST) provided access to over $79 million in low-interest loans to state and local government partners through a sale of Certificates of Participation (COPs) this week.
Proceeds from the COPs will provide financing opportunities for local municipalities and state agencies to purchase service vehicles and pay for construction projects.
The City of Chehalis is participating in the local portion of the sale to finance a new ambulance in support of the city’s emergency response capability, with a cost of $450,000, according to a news release from OST. This will be the city’s second time participating in the OST’s Local Option Capital Asset Lending Program (LOCAL). Previous participation helped the city secure financing for two automobiles in 2001.
Lewis County Fire Protection District 2 will also finance various equipment and vehicle upgrades.
The COP sale will also refinance the Helen Sommers building on the Capitol campus in Olympia, which was first financed in 2015, saving the state $3.3 million in debt service. Leveraging the state’s strong credit ratings to achieve low interest rates will keep long-term borrowing costs for the state and its partners, according to OST.
Participants in this week’s financing include three colleges and several stage agencies, with the local portion of the sale including four cities and five fire protection districts financing a variety of vehicle purchases and projects.
“We’re working with partners at the state and local level to effectively reduce long-term costs and ensure more tax dollars can be put to use for essential community services,” State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti said in a news release. “We must do all we can to stretch our dollars further considering the additional federal and budgeting pressures we’re facing in state and local government. Every bit can make a difference.”
Three times a year, OST pools financing requests from state agencies and local governments into the publicly sold COPs. This allows state agencies, as well as local partners in the LOCAL Program, to acquire equipment and real estate under the umbrella of the state’s credit.
This week’s sale was the state’s second COP issuance in the 2026 fiscal year. The program financed $106,570,000 of equipment and real estate purchases during the previous fiscal year and $37,255,000 so far in the 2026 fiscal year.
