Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves public hearing on up-to-$110M bond sale; business report shows capital fund balances and sales-tax receipts
Summary
The board authorized steps required to offer general obligation alternate bonds not to exceed $110 million, set a public hearing required by law and heard a capital projects cash-roll report showing a year-end balance of about $59.3 million and December sales-tax receipts of $1.125 million.
Springfield School District 186’s board on Feb. 3 approved a resolution to begin the bond issuance process for up to $110 million in general-obligation alternate bonds and set a public hearing required by the Bond Issue Notification Act before a final sale.
Director Miller clarified that the board’s action authorizes public notice and a hearing but does not approve the actual sale; the district expects an initial issuance in 2025 and a subsequent sale in 2026 to fund multi-phase capital projects that the board previously reviewed.
Business-report highlights presented to the board showed the capital projects fund had a beginning balance of $66,181,523, earned $404,239.23 in investment income during December, and recorded bond draws and expenses of $7,244,215.60 for the period, yielding an ending balance of $59,341,546.63 as of Dec. 31, 2024. The district reported $1,125,550 in sales‑tax receipts in December (for the September reporting period) and a 12‑month average collection of $1,137,000. Since the 2019 sales‑tax referendum the district has received about $63,000,000 in sales-tax revenue, officials said.
The district also reported $416,699.72 in outstanding state payments as of Jan. 29, 2025, including $383,688 owed to special projects (the presentation cited early‑childhood block grant funding) and smaller outstanding amounts tied to the education fund and food-service reimbursements.
The business office noted the CFST (county facility sales tax) savings account held $5,518,703 as of Dec. 31, 2024, and that the next CFST payment of $9,276,919 is due June 1, 2025; staff projected a surplus of about $1,931,644 in that CFST account at the payment date, and reminded the board that sales-tax bond proceeds are restricted to capital projects consistent with the referendum.
Board members asked technical questions about pacing of project drawdowns and the plan to sell bonds in phases to avoid penalties and to match borrowing with near-term cash needs. Director Miller said the $110 million figure represents the next batch of projects and the district expects to sell additional bonds in 2026 as part of the broader program; the first sale will not exceed the $110 million authorization.
The board approved the resolution to publish notice and hold the required public hearing. The motion carried on a roll-call vote with seven aye votes.
