We still don't know the winning bid UPDATED 2X

Last night, Mt. Lebanon School Board Directors approved the second bond issue for the high school renovation. It brought $32,950,000 in proceeds. It will have for the first year, a .2 mill tax increase, a  .19 mill tax increase for the second year, and a .2 mill tax increase for the third year. We sold $35,090,000 bonds for proceeds of $32,950,000. The expenses appear to be over $2 million.  Scott Goldman was the only director who voted against it. Level funding cost $7,890,000 less than wrapping bonds and borrowing the interest over the life of the bonds, assuming the bonds are not refinanced.

What we don't know is what the net interest cost or the true interest cost of the winning bid. We were told that the winning bid and the cover bid were within .01% of each other. The board did not reveal either cost last night.

In 2009, we were quoted a 3.59% Arbitrage Yield, but in the Act 34 document, it was revealed that the True Interest cost was 4.10%.

Moody's report is here. The podcast to last night's meeting is here.

Update August 20, 2013 12:11 PM Taxpayers file lawsuit to block Woonsocket tax.

Update August 20, 2013 5:53 PM The MTLSD website is down, but I understand this was posted today. Also, residents have called Jan Klein today, asking for the winning bid and was told to file a RTK. Any stockbroker could have answered that question, but you won't get it from the School District .

School Board Votes to Issue Bonds to Complete Financing for High School Project August 20, 2013 At the August 19, 2013 School Board meeting, the Board voted to authorize the issuance of General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2013 in the aggregate principal amount of $34,745,000 to provide funds  for the completion of the renovations to the high school. The bidding was favorable with the District being the only competitive bond sale scheduled in Pennsylvania this week, and the second largest and second highest rated sale of only 11 competitive sales across the country on Monday, August 19, 2013. There were a number of bids, and the bids were very close.  The winning bidder was Mesirow Financial of New York City.  Mesirow is generally not an active bidder on Pennsylvania school district bonds, but said they were enticed to bid due to the strong Aa1 credit of the District and the belief that their investor base would be excited to own these bonds.  With this sale, the District will continue to finance the construction of the high school until its completion in 2015. On  August 12, the Board gave direction to the financial advisor and bond counsel to proceed to bid on an anticipated $33 million debt issue to fund the remaining costs of the high school renovation project. The bonds were directed to be wrapped around existing debt so the millage cost to the community will be minimized with the debt payments implemented over a three year period. It is anticipated that the increase in millage will be below .2 mills each of the next three years to complete this financing.

Looks like it is a go.

Also on this Monday's agenda:

Issuance of Bonds – Tim Frenz, our financial advisor, and Jim Webster, our bond counsel, will be at the Board meeting to give an update concerning the sale of the second round of high school renovation project bonds next week. The structure and size of the bond issue will be discussed before the sale. Assuming good market conditions, the sale will occur on Monday, August 19th with Board action to approve the sale at the meeting that evening.

No discussion of level funding, no update on the fundraising hire since the job posting has been removed and no news of the Final 2013-14 Budget.

From Timmy's association

A Lebo Citizens reader sent me this very important tool kit that comes from the School Superintendents Association, AASA. Instead of taking pictures of bathrooms and water fountains, providing this toolkit for cost-effective financing for school construction and renovation might have been a better use of his time. No worries, Timmy will get his raise and probably a bonus for his valuable contributions to the high school project. http://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=12676

But superintendents aren't the only ones who receive sound, financial advice from their organizations. The American School Board Journal cautions its members when making district investments. Collateral Damage, written by Charles K. Trainor, an ASBJ contributing editor, is a certified fraud examiner and certified internal auditor. His article makes me curious as to how MTLSD's available funds are invested. According to Jan Klein's July 1 document to the school board, there is

• $1.7 million in the Asbestos Fund
• $6.35 million in the General Capital Project Fund
• $3.24 million in Excess General Funds remaining form 2011, 2012, and 2013 (estimated) 

I wonder if Charles K. Trainor, president of Management Audit Consultants, Inc., would come to Mt. Lebanon since we have been using the same auditors for twenty five years. Jan Klein has quite a bit of money stashed away. I hope it has been invested wisely. For some reason, the school board directors don't want to touch it.

Please note:
It is August and the 2013-14 Final Budget has not been posted.
No word on level funding on the district website.
Next school board meeting is August 12, 2013.