Two Northern Kentucky school districts have submitted plans to issue a combined $55.43 million in school building revenue bonds for new construction and school improvements.
Both district plans were expected to be reviewed by a state legislative oversight committee Tuesday.
The two school districts are Kenton County and Boone County. According to bond financing plans submitted to the state, the Kenton County School District finance corporation plans to issue $30 million in school building revenue bonds for the construction of administrative offices and school improvements, including upgrades at River Ridge Elementary in Villa Hills. Boone County School District’s finance corporation plans to issue $25.43 million in revenue bonds to pay for renovations to Camp Ernst Middle School in Burlington and Yealey Elementary in Florence.
Both bond issues are expected to go to bid in the first half of 2024, although the exact issue date has not been determined, according to letters sent by the districts’ fiscal agent, Lexington-based RSA Advisors, to the state legislative Capital Projects and Bond Oversight Committee.
Kenton County bond funds will cover the construction of a new board of education office and virtual learning center in addition to improvements at River Ridge, according to a Feb. 21 letter sent to the committee from RSA. Funding for the Kenton County bonds will be 100% local, the plan states, with average annual debt service (the money required to pay off the bonds) estimated at $2.3 million.
No tax increase is required to finance the bonds, according to a disclosure form accompanying the district’s plan.
RSA asked the committee to process Kenton County’s financing plan and disclosure form at its next meeting (Tuesday) so the bond sale could proceed. State law requires that school districts list all costs associated with issuing revenue bonds or notes to the committee and the General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue before bonds are issued.
The $25.43 million in school building revenue bonds for Boone County Schools were reported by RSA to the committee in a letter dated Jan. 26. According to the letter, the Boone County bonds will be funded with 1.14% state school facilities construction commission (SFCC) funds (or $290,000) and 98.86% local funds (or $25.14 million).
School facilities construction commission funds are distributed to districts “according to their unmet facility needs,” according to the commission website.
Debt service on the Boone County bonds is estimated at $1.96 million for locally-funded bonds and $19,554 for the school facilities construction commission-funded bonds, according to the disclosure form for the bonds. Again, no tax increase will be required to fund the bonds, according to the disclosure form.
As it did for Kenton County, RSA has asked the committee to review Boone County’s financing plan on Tuesday so the bond sale can proceed.
A plan to refinance 2014 revenue bonds issued by Grant County Schools is also on the agenda of the Capital Project and Bond Oversight Committee Tuesday.
The Grant County School District finance corporation plans to issue $3.94 million in school building revenue bonds this year to refinance 2014 bonds according to RSA – also Grant County Schools’ fiscal agent. A financing plan and disclosure form for the bond issue was sent by RSA to the committee in a letter dated Jan. 25.
RSA said in its letter that the Grant County bonds would be 100% funded with local funds, with the sale date yet unannounced.
As with the Kenton County and Boone County bond issues, RSA said there is no tax increase required for the Grant County bond issue.
The Capital Projects and Bond Oversight Committee is a statutory committee of the Kentucky General Assembly that meets year-round, not only during legislative sessions. It oversees funding of capital projects (including building construction), bonds issued by the state “and related individual projects,” and bonds issued by or on behalf of local school districts, as well as state acquisition of capital assets.