District finance adviser says referendum bonds on schedule; consolidation debt nearly paid off

Bob Damron, a financial consultant who led the evening's debt briefing, told the Orangeburg County School District board on March 25 that most of the pre‑consolidation bond issues have been paid and the district's referendum financing is on schedule.

“Of all those bond issues that were prior to consolidation, there's only 1 left and that is the 2013 refunding bonds ... and that amount is down to $880,000,” Damron said, adding that “the last payment on that bond issue will be March of 2027, and that means there's only 2 payments left on it.” He said a $41 million special‑obligation bond (described as a performance contract) is paid from operational savings tied to energy and maintenance improvements and therefore does not affect the district's debt‑service millage.

Damron reviewed the district's referendum bond program. He said the district will issue the remaining referendum debt this year and that the district plans to size annual general‑obligation bond sales to keep the debt‑service millage at the 42‑mill commitment made to voters. He said the district is currently estimating a 2025 interim bond issuance of $15,977,000 and that the balance of referendum bonds — cited in the presentation as $190,000,000 — will be issued and later converted to permanent bonds with term lengths (20 or 25 years) to be set based on market conditions.

Board members pressed Damron on issuance costs after the presentation. A board member asked for the cost to issue bonds; Damron said, referring to prior large issuances, the cost of issuance ran about $323,000 on a $155,000,000 sale, with ratings and disclosure expenses included. He also said the district expects to do another ratings analysis with Moody's later in the summer.

Damron reviewed the district's constitutional debt capacity, saying the district retains roughly $11,600,000 of 8% delegated constitutional debt capacity after the planned issuance and that the district has targeted 42 mills as the debt‑service millage used to size borrowing. He told board members the district has used the pooled SKAGO/SCAGO short‑term program for interim financing and that a resolution to participate in the program (not to exceed approximately $18,000,000) is expected to return to the board in June; no board vote on that resolution occurred at the March 25 workshop.

The presentation concluded with Damron saying the district is “in great shape from a debt structure standpoint” and that work continues on timing and sizing of permanent bond sales.

Votes taken at the meeting were procedural and unrelated to the bond items; the board approved the evening's agenda at the start of the session and later voted to adjourn the workshop (both motions were approved by voice vote; no roll‑call tallies were recorded in the transcript).