Tri‑County projects $140 million bond sale, says Millis assessment to rise after enrollment jump

Summary

Tri‑County School leaders told the Millis Finance Committee that a $140 million bond sale and the district’s student enrollment increase will push the town’s assessment up; the district applied excess “E and D” funds to lower the near‑term debt impact and expects the new Tri‑County building to open in September 2027.

Karen McGuire, superintendent of the Tri‑County Regional Vocational Technical High School, and Dan Haines, the district’s school business manager, briefed the Millis Finance Committee on April 9 about this year’s Chapter 70 apportionment, a recently completed bond sale and implications for Millis’s share of the regional assessment.

The Tri‑County presentation matters to Millis because the district’s required contribution to net school spending will rise after the district’s ninth‑grade cohort grew by 11 students; the state’s Chapter 70 formula increased Millis’s Tri‑County assessment by $213,047, the presenters said. McGuire and Haines also told the committee that the district sold school bonds in January and will begin debt service in fiscal 2026, which is the primary driver of a larger assessment to member towns.

At the meeting Haines said the district sold $140,000,000 in school bonds on Jan. 7, 2025, receiving a true interest cost of about 3.99 percent and a premium that reduced the amount the district will pay back. “We had a low bid of the true…

Tri‑County projects $140 million bond sale, says Millis assessment to rise after enrollment jump

Summary

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