Lincoln Consolidated School District sells 2019 refunding bonds

The Lincoln Consolidated School District announces the successful sale of its 2019 Refunding Bonds (federally taxable) in the amount of $19,450,000.
The 2019 Refunding Bonds are being issued for the purpose of refunding certain outstanding indebtedness of the school district to the State of Michigan under the State of Michigan School Bond Qualification and Loan Program and to pay the costs of issuing the bonds.
The bonds reduce the repayments to the State of Michigan by a total estimated amount of $1,906,000. The estimated reduction in repayments is based upon assumptions regarding the growth in the district’s taxable value and School Bond Loan Fund interest rate.
In preparing to sell the 2019 Refunding Bonds, the school district, working with its municipal advisor, PFM Financial Advisors LLC, requested that S&P Global Ratings, a business unit of Standard and Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) evaluate the school district credit quality. S&P assigned the school district the underlying rating of “A-“ with a stable outlook. The rating agency cited the school district’s good-to-strong income levels and strong market value per capita and available general fund reserves in their rationale for rating the school district at this level.
“We have financed the school bonds annually for the past four years,” said School Supt. Sean McNatt. “The cumulative taxpayer savings by refinancing these bonds annually now tops $20 million.”
The school district’s financing was conducted by the Michigan investment banking office of the brokerage firm Stifel, the municipal advising firm PFM Financial Advisors LLC, and the law firm serving as bond counsel, Thrun Law Firm P.C.
The school district’s 2019 Refunding Bonds were sold at a federally taxable interest rate of 2.69% with a final maturity of 2030 (a repayment term of approximately 11 years).
“Lincoln Consolidated School District’s bonds were well-received by the bond market,” said Brodie Killian, managing director with Stifel. “The financing met the goals of the district and resulted in significant taxpayer savings.”