Greenon Completes Bonds Sales
The Greenon Local School District recently completed the second of two bond issues to fund the local share of the district’s facilities project, a co-funded initiative with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The combined interest rate on the district’s two financings was 3.58 percent and payments on the bonds are scheduled to stay below the 6.98 mills approved by voters at the May 2017 ballot.
“The facilities project represents a major investment in our community, and the Greenon Board and Administration are committed to ensuring that the building is of high-quality, completed in a timely manner and to saving taxpayer dollars wherever possible,” said Mr. Brad McKee, Treasurer. “We are pleased that the proactive and comprehensive financing strategy paid off with savings for taxpayers and will continue to look for opportunities to realize savings throughout this process.”
After voters approved the district’s bond issue at the May 2017 ballot, the district worked with their Underwriter, Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Inc.; Municipal Advisor, Bradley Payne LLC; and Bond Counsel, Dinsmore and Shohl, to develop a plan for the sale of the bonds. A key component of the process was for Superintendent Brad Silvus and Treasurer Brad McKee to engage analysts from Moody’s Investor’s Service to rate the district’s Bonds. Moody’s delivered a rating of A2 for the District’s bonds and credited “healthy fund balance and liquidity” as a key driver for the rating.
The district broke up the bond sale into two series in order to qualify a portion of the bonds as “bank-qualified,” giving the district access to lower interest rates. This strategy resulted in a savings to district taxpayers of approximately $1.33 million. The favorable interest rate environment also enabled the district to save taxpayers money.
By taking advantage of the low long-term interest rates in today’s market the district was also able to save taxpayers more than $4,3 million compared to the cost of borrowing at the 5 percent interest rate that was assumed for purposes of the ballot calculation.
