THE HUNTER REPORT
Loudon County seeks Low Interest Bonds - UPDATE
Loudon County schools get $0
By Pat Hunter
September 13, 2009
Loudon County Schools received some bad news at Thursday’s Sept., 3rd school board meeting. Assistant School Director Jason Vance informed the school board that the county school system was not awarded bond money by the Tennessee State School Bond Authority. To see a complete list of projects approved by the Tennessee State School Bond Authority, see press release below.
At last month’s meeting, Vance announced that zero interest stimulus money was available to construct and renovate schools or purchase land under the bond program.
Loudon County schools applied to the Tennessee State School Bond Authority for a $20 Million low interest loan to help with the proposed school building plan.
Loudon County schools was competing with other school systems across the state. One of our neighboring school systems, Maryville City Schools received a $20.4 Million low interest loan for the construction of the Coulter Grove Intermediate School. Plans to construct the Coulter Grove School were stopped because of the economy and the bond market. This will give Maryville schools another opportunity to build the new school with a low interest 15-year bond loan.
For Immediate Release: Sept. 10, 2009
STATE SCHOOL BOND AUTHORITY APPROVES BONDS FOR MORE THAN $180 MILLION WORTH OF SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Communities throughout Tennessee will receive financing to build or repair
schools as a result of the Tennessee State School Bond Authority's (TSSBA)
action today.
The TSSBA agreed to sell more than $180 million worth of Qualified School
Construction Bonds as part of a program created by the federal American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act.
After the bond sale, the TSSBA will invest the proceeds from the sale in the
state's Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) until communities need money to
pay expenses related to their school construction projects.
Unlike other bonds that the State sells which pay semi-annual interest to the
bondholder, tax credit bonds provide a federal tax credit to certain investors
on a quarterly basis.
The communities authorized to receive portions of the bond money will be
required to spend it on the projects within three years of the bond sale. The
sale is expected to be completed with bond proceeds available for disbursement
in late November. Additionally, the communities are required to enter into
binding contracts for at least 10 percent of their allocation of the bond
proceeds within six months after the bond sale.
The communities will be required to repay their loans according to schedules
worked out with the TSSBA - or risk the state intercepting their state-shared
taxes to meet the annual debt service requirements.
The TSSBA members include Comptroller Justin P. Wilson, Secretary of State Tre
Hargett, Treasurer David H. Lillard Jr., Governor Phil Bredesen, Finance and
Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz, Board of Regents Chancellor Charles
Manning and acting University of Tennessee President Jan Simek.
Of the total bond proceeds, Memphis City Schools will receive $41.7 million and
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools will receive $21.1 million for various
projects. Those two school systems received direct allocations from the federal
government because they rank among the nation's top 100 districts in terms of
school-aged children living below the poverty line.
Other communities that will receive bond proceeds were selected through a
competitive application process.
Those communities are:
Clarksville/Montgomery County, which will receive $20 million for renovation of
Montgomery Central High School
Cleveland City Schools, which will receive $4.2 million for a new science wing
at Cleveland High School
Cumberland County Schools, which will receive $2.6 million for infrastructure
and energy-efficiency upgrades at Cumberland County High School
Dyer County, which will receive $8.9 million for construction of a new
elementary school
Dyersburg City Schools, which will receive $2.9 million for renovations to
Dyersburg Intermediate School
Hamblen County Schools, which will receive $11.1 million for land acquisition
and construction at Morristown-Hamblen High School East
Hawkins County, which will receive $1.4 million for renovations to Rogersville
Middle School and $1.2 million for renovations to Surgoinsville Middle School
Henry County, which will receive $2.6 million for new construction and
improvements to E.W. Grove school
Johnson City Schools, which will receive $8 million for renovations and new
construction at Science Hill High School
Maryville City Schools, which will receive $20.4 million for construction of
Coulter Grove Intermediate School
Shelby County Schools, which will receive $13.8 million to demolish and replace
Elmore Park Middle School
Sullivan County, which will receive $15.2 million to renovate and expand Ketron
Intermediate School
Union County, which will receive $6.7 million to build Paulette Middle School
and $347,736 to renovate and expand Luttrell Elementary School
SOURCE: Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury
http://www.tn.gov/comptroller/
09-13-09