Over $3 million in Bonds were issued on January 10, 2018 for a Superior K-12 School improvement project and were scooped up almost immediately by investors reported D.A. Davidson Senior Vice President, Public Finance Baker, Bridget Ekstrom, who handled the sale. The estimates on the interest costs also came in lower than expected which will be a savings to taxpayers.

The municipal Bonds were the only ones offered that week and did remarkably well according to Superior School Superintendent, Scott Kinney. One reason for the success was because the school district received an “A” credit rating from Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Rating Service. Kinney said that was on par with schools in the Polson area.

According to a report given to the Superior School Board the S&P specifically indicates the favorable rating is due to “the District’s strong market value per capita; stable financial profile, evidenced by trend of strong available fund balance reserves; and low overall debt profile.”

Voters approved the issuance of the Bonds on Sept. 28 which will be used to pay the costs related to the construction of a new junior high annex on the high school. The new annex will house classrooms, a wood and metal school, weight room, restrooms and other related facilities. It will also cover cost to demolish the existing junior high school building located across from the Mineral County Fair Grounds. Other improvements will include the installation of new digital controls to integrate the mechanical and electrical systems of the new junior high annex and high school. As well as upgrade the lighting and heating systems serving the high school building and related improvements.

There were 645 Bonds offered with a minimum of $5,000 worth a total of $3,225,675. The term on the tax-exempt Bonds is 20-years with a final maturity date of July 1, 2038. The other good news concerning the Bonds is the final interest costs were significantly lower than originally projected. Overall there is $436,839 less in interest costs over the term of the Bonds compared to earlier estimates.

This means taxpayers will be paying less, for example a residential property worth $100,000 was to pay approximately $78 in annual taxes. With the new figures the annual impact has dropped to $69 or 11 percent less. Yields to investors range from 1.62 percent to the first maturity in 2019 to 2.98 percent in 2038.

Construction of the Project is expected to begin this spring as soon as weather permits and is projected to be completed by October, 2018.