Money was frequent topic at recent school board meeting

Money.

Bob Tarvin, vice-president with RSA Advisors, recently addressed the Whitley County Board of Education about a bond refinancing effort, which could potentially save the district about $900,000 over 11 years.

Much of the Oct. 14 monthly Whitley County Board of Education meeting revolved around the topic, including an attempt to refinance a debt that could potentially save the district over $900,000, an audit report of the school district’s finances, and discussion about upcoming building projects.

Bob Tarvin, vice-president with RSA Advisors, told the board that the current interest rate on the 2014 revenue bond issue was 3.9 percent, but his company is hoping to get a new interest rate between 1.8-1.9 percent with the refinancing, which could save the district about $922,000 in payments over the 11-year time period it would take to pay off the revenue bonds.

“If we can’t achieve those rates, we won’t sell it,” said Tarvin, who noted there is no guarantee his company can get the interest rate it is wanting given the markets recently.

Assuming that the bonds are refinanced, that new interest rate would be at a fixed rate for the remainder of the life of the debt.

During the meeting, the school board convened a meeting Whitley County School District Finance Corporation, which approved a resolution authorizing the refinancing.

The finance corporation is made up of members of the school board, and is the technical entity responsible for the debt.

Revenue bonds are the government equivalent of a home mortgage and are used to finance government building projects.

Also, during the meeting, the board accepted the 2020-2021 audited financial report and balance sheet, and the 2020-2021 audit report from Marr, Miller & Myers certified public accountants.

“This year I am happy to say there are no comments. It’s a good audit report. It’s impressive,” auditor Nancy Logan told the board noting that the district had been “good stewards of money.”

The school district had $52,700,000 in revenue during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which was a $1.8 million increase over last year. In 2017, the district had $45 million in revenue.

A total of 63.03 percent of all monies goes for instruction. The district is required to maintain a 2 percent contingency fund, and finished last fiscal year with a 4.96 percent contingency fund. This fiscal year the district has a 3.52 percent contingency fund, Logan noted.

She added that school district facilities are in excellent shape and the district could finance some project upgrades using money from the budget without having  to take on bonded debt.

In addition, the board heard from Randy S. Brookshire with RossTarrant Architects about two upcoming building projects.

The school board voted to advertise for bids for a complete HVAC system replacement for Whitley North Elementary School. The current unit is 26 years old.

Brookshire noted that the district has gotten a lot of good life out of the system.

The bids will be for a base bid to replace the current system with one similar to it, which would be more energy efficient than the current system and improve indoor air quality at the school, Brookshire said.

The district is also seeking alternate bids to replace the current HVAC system with a more energy efficient geothermal system, and an alternate bid to replace the lighting system at the school. Project estimates are about $3.7 million total.

The board also voted to advertise for bids for the Oak Grove Elementary School Cafeteria expansion, which is expected to cost about $620,805 total.

While the school building has been added onto with additional classrooms and so forth many times, the cafeteria has never been enlarged.

The expansion would be a 1,500 square foot addition to help accommodate the roughly 600 children at the school.

“This will help them feed those students more efficiently,” noted Superintendent John Siler.

In addition, the board discussed the Whitley County Middle School roof replacement project.

Insulated Roof Contractors hopes to begin the 92,000 square foot roof replacement before Christmas if the weather cooperates. It is expected to be completed this spring, Siler said.