Bond Project Campaign UPDATES

Taxpayers and the Board of Education of Ottawa County USD 240 (Twin Valley Schools) got an early Christmas present on Thursday, December 16^th. The District sold the general obligation bonds approved at the November election.

At Tescott the bond money will be used to build a completely new kitchen, replace the ceiling and floor of the original gym, and other needed repairs. At Bennington the bond money will be used to build a new shop facility, renovate existing areas into more classrooms, and make other needed repairs. At each campus a security entrance will be created. The final design stage is occurring now with construction set to begin this summer.

USD 240 received 3 bids for purchase of the $5.9 million in bonds to finance capital improvements to school buildings. The original estimate for the bond financing was at 2.50% for the 20-year bonds. The final figures came in at a rate significantly below the pre-election estimate

The winning bid was provided by Commerce Bank at a True Interest Cost of 1.860576%. The other bidders were Piper Jaffray & Co. at 1.912373% and First Bankers’ Banc Securities Inc. at 1.90086%

The District’s financial advisor for the bond election and sale is the Wichita office of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company. Steve Shogren, representing Stifel stated, “We are extremely pleased with the result of the bond sale and resultant interest rate. The lower bid represents reduced interest cost on the retirement of the bonds by more than $300,000 less than the original estimate. Stifel is proud to be the financial advisor to USD 240 for this election and bond sale transaction.”

The District applied to S & P Global for a credit rating on the bonds and received a rating of A (with stable outlook).

With the successful sale, Stifel estimates that the resultant mill levy for the bonds will be nearly 1 mill less than the original estimate.

With Board approval of the bid and adoption of the bond issuance resolution, Stifel will work with bond counsel to order the printing of the bonds, the filing of a transcript with the Kansas Attorney General, and a closing of the transaction is scheduled for January 6^th.

Twin Valley Schools would like to thank its patrons for investing in the future of the district students .

We are currently working with Alloy Architects and McGownGordon to make final adjustments to the design for all areas. Our timeline is to have all design decisions completed by March to allow for project bids to be dispersed.

A detailed timeline for the project will be shared during the January and February board of education meetings.