Final school bond sale draws 3.27%

The St. Martin School Board on Wednesday, Aug. 19, approved the fourth and final installment of a $40.3 million bond issue approved by parish voters in 2013.
Low bidder on the sale of $11,675,000 in 20-year general obligation bonds to pay for upgrading school facilities was Robert W. Baird & Co. with a winning bid of 3.27 percent.
There were five bidders, most of them separated by a hundredth of a percent.
Bonding attorney Grant Schleuter of Foley & Judell. L.L.P., New Orleans, told the board that while higher than the near-historic low interest rate of 2.86 percent (from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch) in February, Baird’s rate is in line with the projections made when the bond issue was approved and is especially favorable in light of the downturn in the oil and gas industry regionally and the ballooning cost of pensions to labor-intensive governmental agencies like school boards.
“A good bit of news is that you retain your A+ rating, one of the highest ratings for school boards in Louisiana,” Schleuter told the board, in a special Aug. 19 meeting.
Regional and nationwide financial woes were offset by the board’s “very strong finances, and strong fund balances,” he said.
The money is expected to be available to the board by the end of September.
Wednesday’s sale of $11,675,000 in bonds follows earlier sales of $11,675,000 in February, $12 million in January 2014 and $5 million in July 2013.
The interest rates on those bonds were 2.86 percent, 3.45 percent and 3.64 percent, respectively.
The proceeds from the bonds are being used for a wide ranging number of improvements to school facilities throughout the parish.