Bond Sales for Saginaw Public Schools Goes “Very Well”

The money Saginaw public schools needs to get started on projects related to it’s Bond proposal should be made available to the district very soon.

According to Bill Roche from Northland Public Finance at this week’s school board action session; the bond sale process was a very successful one- resulting in orders worth nearly 5½ times the 100 million dollars in bonds the school had been looking to sell in order to build, relocate, and upgrade its schools.

He says there were several “Impact Investors” aiming to purchase a larger number of bonds to help support historically economically disadvantaged areas, and that the sheer number of investors and bond orders will allow the interest rates tax payers will need to include on the bond repayment total to be much lower than originally planned.

The School board is continuing talks to reach an agreement with designers and contractors to begin the work.

Roche adds the quick sale of the bonds has allowed the money to be transferred to the district’s bank account as soon as Thursday, with a repayment interest rate at 2.61%.

The proposal originally planned for a 30-year bond paid for with a tax hike of 7 mills, which the district estimated would cost the average Saginaw homeowner around $20 extra per month.

The money is slated to go towards:

-a new comprehensive high school building at the current Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy site

-a new SASA facility in a remodeled Arthur Hill High School building

-a new Handley Elementary School building next to the new SASA, creating a ‘gifted campus’

-a new middle school in a remodeled Saginaw High School building

-and repairs and upgrades to technology, heating, and cooling systems at all current facilities.