From the San Ramon Unified School District
The recently refinanced several outstanding general obligation bonds, a move projected to save property owners more than $17 million in taxes.
The bonds, totaling $167.9 million, were originally authorized when voters passed the district’s Measure A Facilities Bond in 2002. The bond was used to repair and upgrade aging facilities throughout the district.
The District was able to take advantage of a historically low interest rate environment. The interest rates on the outstanding bonds from the 2002 authorization ranged from 3.55 percent to 4.77 percent. The interest rates for the new bonds issued on June 19th range from 0.52 percent to 3.14 percent, a difference that will save property owners $17,002,379.
The refinancing of the bonds was authorized by the Board of Education at its May 22 meeting. “Ten years ago, the community generously voted to support its schools by passing Measure A,” said Superintendent Steven Enoch. “Taking advantage of the low interest rates and the district’s favorable bond rating allowed us to generate considerable savings for property owners .”
Prior to the bond sale, the District’s bonds were rated by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, which provide credit ratings and research covering debt instruments and securities worldwide. Moody’s assigned the District the rating of “Aa1” with a “stable” outlook. The rating of “Aa1” is the highest rating ever assigned to a California school district.
Standard & Poor’s assigned the rating of “AA” with a “stable” outlook, and referenced the “high desirability of the district’s educational services, and good financial performance demonstrated by the district’s strong reserve levels.”
In addition to the lower interest rates, the District also chose to restructure future debt payments of Measure A bonds to provide taxpayers with a more stable tax payment each year.
