Press Release: Lowell Area Schools Announces Sale of 2021 Refunding Bonds

We received the following press release from Lowell Area Schools:

 

The Board of Education of Lowell Area Schools is proud to announce the successful sale of its 2021 Refunding Bonds (Federally Taxable) in the amount of $19,710,000. The 2021 Refunding
Bonds are being issued for the purpose of refunding certain outstanding indebtedness of the School District to the State of Michigan under the 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 $2,354,000. 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 2021 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’s 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 strong median household effective buying income (EBI) and very strong per capita market value; strong operating performance with maintenance of strong reserves and moderate debt burden in their rationale for rating the School District at this level.

Lowell Area Schools’ Board to Education is proud to announce this sale of bonds [and] grateful for the trust the community has put in us to manage tax payer dollars

• Strong management of tax payer dollars
• Manage growth in our community
• Provide outstanding faculties for learning
• Shorten the term to repay our current debt

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, Varnum LLP. The School District’s 2021 Refunding Bonds were sold at a federally taxable interest rate of 1.341% with a final maturity of 2030 (a repayment term of approximately 10 years).

Jeffrey Zylstra, Managing Director with Stifel states, the “Lowell Area Schools Bonds were well received by investors in a strong bond market. The financing exceeded the goals of the District and resulted in significant savings for taxpayers.”