Latest News Ninth Judicial District announces court survey Lettenga overcomes stress of taking business to new location Extraordinary Women Con­ference features top-notch speakers New project, budget, gets school year off to fresh start Pondera County junk vehicle program explained Popular Wyatt Stokes charged with embezzlement The news in review for 2006 Top stories that made the news in 2005 Wyatt Stokes pleads guilty in federal court Brady-Dutton superintendent carries weapon into school during basketball function Home News Latest Sale of School bonds saves taxpayers money Sale of School bonds saves taxpayers money Wednesday, 02 July 2008 Article Index Sale of School bonds saves taxpayers money Page 2 Page 1 of 2     At a special board meeting held on June 26, Conrad Elementary and High School Districts competi­tively sold its authorized General Obligation Bonds in the total prin­cipal amount of $2,2000,000 for the Elementary District and $4,100,000 for the High School District.     The bonds are being issued for the school districts’ capital im­provement projects that were authorized by voters at the April 8 special mail ballot elections with a 74 percent approval rate.     Members of the school board and district administration were pleased with the low interest rates received at the June 26 bond sale, which resulted in total reduced in­terest costs on the bonds over initial election estimates of $426,866.70. The savings over original estimates are $197,755.03 for the Elementary District and $229,111.67 for the High School District. Local tax­payers will benefit from the lower than estimated interest rates in the form of reduced annual tax levies or the bonds over the 20-year term. The first payment on the bonds will be Jan. 1, 2009 and the last pay­ment will be on July 1, 2028.     The districts utilized slightly conservative rates of 4.90 percent on their 20-year bond issue estimates that were presented to voters earlier last year. The districts were able to lock into a true interest cost rates of 4.19 percent for the elementary bonds and 4.51 percent for the high school bonds. The bid of Bitterroot Valley Bank, based in Lolo, Mont., was the elementary district winning bid. The bid of D.A. Davidson & Co., based in Great Falls, was the high school district winning bid. Six companies or banks were repre­sented in the competitive bidding process.     Interest income on the bonds is tax-free to bondholders for pur­poses of federal income taxation and State of Montana individual income taxation, which is the rea­son the borrowing costs of the school is lower than comparable rates for individual borrowers. The high school district bonds will be resold by D.A. Davidson & Co. to individual and institutional inves­tors in denominations of $5,000. Prev - Next >>   < Prev   Next > [ Back ]