Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board receives plan to issue $33.8M facilities bonds and to evaluate possible refunding
Summary
Finance staff and advisors told the school board the district plans to issue $33.8 million in facilities-maintenance bonds and will monitor markets through May to determine whether refunding existing bonds is feasible to lower future levies.
The Rochester Public Schools board received a first reading on a resolution of intent to issue $33,800,000 in general-obligation facilities-maintenance bonds on April 7 and was briefed on a possible parallel refunding to lower future debt service if market conditions permit.
Director of Finance Andy Crockstead and bond advisor Aaron Bushberger explained the four-part resolution: authority to sell facilities-maintenance bonds, submission of a revised long-term facilities-maintenance (LTFM) plan to the Minnesota Department of Education, potential sale of refunding bonds, and participation in the state credit-enhancement program (which the presenters said carries no cost).
Bushberger said refunding operates like refinancing a mortgage and can reduce future debt-service payments and property-tax levies for taxpayers, but it is timing-sensitive: only bonds that are past their call date can be tax-exempt refunded and market volatility can make a prospective refunding infeasible. "If we were to go to market today . . . they would not be feasible," he said, explaining that recent market moves merit monitoring through the pre-sale timeline.
The firm plans to return with a pre-sale report May 5; if conditions allow, the district would sell bonds June 2 and expect funds on hand later in June to support summer construction projects. Crockstead said the district has shifted to more frequent, smaller annual issuances to match project timing and to distribute taxpayer impact.
No vote was taken on the bond issuance at the April 7 meeting; the resolution of intent will return for possible formal action on April 21 and for a pre-sale market update on May 5.
