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Debt presentation shows $50.2M outstanding, $133M remaining statutory debt capacity; nonreferendum bonds extend payments through 2035
Summary
An outside debt advisor told the board the district has $50,165,000 in principal outstanding, a statutory debt limit leaving about $133 million of capacity, and recently issued nonreferendum bonds that keep annual debt service low for taxpayers.
Elizabeth Hennessy, joining the meeting by telephone, told the board the district’s outstanding principal and statutory debt capacity leave room for future nonreferendum borrowing while keeping annual debt-service payments modest.
Hennessy said the district had $50,165,000 of principal outstanding and a statutory debt limit of about $183 million, leaving a net debt limit of roughly $133 million — about 72% of capacity still available. She noted the district recently issued approximately $29.5 million of nonreferendum bonds for capital projects that extended debt-service payments out through 2035.
Hennessy walked trustees through recent actions dating to 2010, including restructuring and refundings that reduced interest costs, a state capital-construction grant the district matched and a qualified school-construction bond whose interest is paid by the state. She also noted the district’s decision in 2022 to retire remaining referendum bonds, which reduced tax pressure on homeowners in prior years.
Why it matters: Hennessy emphasized that current nonreferendum debt-service payments are under $5 million per year and translate to roughly $93 per year for the owner of a $100,000 market-value home for the debt portion of the tax bill. She also said that, because equalized assessed values rose in 2024, tax rates can fall even if levies are held steady; any board decision to increase the operating levy, however, would raise property-tax payments based on the amount levied and the board’s levy certification.
Ending: Hennessy offered to help the district estimate the taxpayer impact of any proposed operating-levy increase; trustees and staff thanked her for the overview. No bond referendum or new debt authorization was proposed at the workshop.
