Members of the Lowndes County School District Board of Trustees held a special meeting Thursday in which they considered their options for issuing the $44 million in bonds approved this month.
Lowndes County voters went to the polls May 12 and voted in favor of the bonds. The money will provide the school district with $11 million for a centralized career-technical center; $26 million for a new high school on the New Hope campus; $3 million for upgrades and additions at the Caledonia campus; $1.9 million for a new field house at Caledonia; and $2.1 million for renovations on the West Lowndes campus.
Now, the trustees must decide if they want to issue all the bonds at once, or do it separately. LCSD consultant Jim Young went over the pros and cons of both.
“I can make really good arguments to do it all at one time,” Young told the board. “I can make good arguments for why you should split it up.”
The unknown, Young said, is where interest rates will go. He said interest rates had been as low as 4.25 percent on May 21 and that 4.60 percent would be “worst-case scenario.”
LCSD will be spending the majority of the bond money in 2017, when construction projects are in full swing. The district will not need to have all the money at once. Young said that if interest rates continue to be low, issuing all $44 million would be ideal.
The first step is to get the district’s credit rating up-to-date. Young said LCSD currently has a AA- rating, which is good. The max rating is AAA. The board voted 4-1 to have the district rated by Standard and Poor’s. Once the rating is updated, the district can go forward with issuing the bonds.
“I think you need to have a good idea of what you’re going to do by June 12 (the next board meeting),” Young said.
The board also heard from project architect Joey Henderson, who presented a tentative schedule for completing the projects encompassed in the bond issue. He said he needs the board to begin issuing the bonds within eight months. Henderson also pressured the board to find a site for the career-technical center, so he can stay on schedule with the project.
“By the end of August, we really need to know where the career-tech center is going to be,” he said.
Although the bonds have not been issued, money is already needed to cover environmental permits and surveying. Barrett made a motion, seconded by Bobby Barksdale, to approve $95,000 from the district general fund to make those purchases.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.