Thanks to a keen fiscal eye and the close monitoring of the district’s debt service, the Moorestown School District successfully refinanced a 2003 bond and will more than $1.5 million over the course of the next 17 years.
Business Administrator Lynn Shugars said that the district will save an average of $91,000 over the next 17 years — or $1.5 million in total — after successfully refinancing a 2003 bond that was approved for renovations to the elementary school, middle school, and high school.
The savings will not be able to be inserted into the general fund, Shugars said, but the district’s debt service fund. It can be used to reduce the school tax levy that is required to support the debt service.
School districts in the state are mandated to refinance bonds if they can realize a margin of at least a three percent savings, Shugars said.
The board of education received five bids to refinance its 2003 bond and eventually awarded the refinanced bid to Roosevelt and Cross, Inc., which came in at the low bid rate of 2.67 percent.
The total debt payment reduction realized is $1,559,326, or a 6.652 percent reduction, Shugars said.
This was not the first time the board had presented the possibility of refinancing, Shugars said. When first presented, the board could have approved a bid to save the district $830,000, but held off due to advice from the district’s bond counsel.
Shugars said the enhanced final savings was a result of market improvement through January and February as well as the award to the district of the strong “AA” underlying rating from Standard and Poor’s on the bond issue.
“It is a nice little savings. We’re seeing these results because of a reduction in interest rates. We haven’t had this low of interest rates in years,” she said.
In other district news:
The board of education brought in several new candidates in early April to interview potential candidates to replace Superintendent John Bach, who is leaving at the end of the school year.
No action was taken at the meeting. Board of Education President Don Mishler said there was no other new information at this time.
