Washoe County School District board authorizes start of process to issue up to $675 million in bonds for school capital projects
Summary
The board unanimously adopted two resolutions to begin the Debt Management Commission authorization process: Resolution 26‑001 to seek authority for up to $500 million in general‑obligation rollover bonds and Resolution 26‑002 to start authorization for up to $175 million in WC1 bonds.
The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to begin the formal process to issue two categories of general‑obligation bonds that district staff say will fund facility master plan projects.
Chief Financial Officer Mark Mathers presented Resolution 26‑001, asking the board to notify the oversight panel for school facilities and the Debt Management Commission of the district's proposal to issue general obligation rollover bonds in one or more series with an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $500,000,000. "Rollover" authority allows the district to reauthorize debt over a 10‑year window as older bonds mature, Mathers said, and he corrected a staff‑report error by noting the district has $8,000,000 of remaining rollover authorization rather than zero.
Mathers said the district's school portion of the property tax is 38.85¢ per $100 of assessed valuation of the $3.66 rate and that projected property‑tax revenue growth (estimated 5–7.5% annually) and maturing past bonds support the capacity to issue multiple series over the next two to three years. Trustee James Phoenix moved adoption; Trustee Diane Nicolette seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Director of Financial Operations Kyle Rodriguez then presented Resolution 26‑002 to notify the Debt Management Commission and begin the authorization process for up to $175,000,000 in WC1 bonds. Rodriguez said WC1 bonds derive from a sales‑tax increase adopted in 2016 (0.54 percentage point) and that the district seeks to maintain a conservative cushion (about 25% of revenues over debt service) while proceeding with capital plans. The board approved the second resolution unanimously.
Both approvals begin a multi‑step process: the district notifies the Debt Management Commission and oversight panel, seeks authorization, and then returns to the board later when it is time to issue specific series. Mathers said the district plans to issue the amounts in multiple series over two to three years to align with the capital improvement program.
