MEEKER | Meeker School District RE-1 issued an additional $11.135 million of bonds from its $39.70 million of voter authorization from 2018. The sale, which will close on July 31, completes the funding needed for the Meeker High School and District Transportation Facility projects. The sale also provides matching funds needed to receive the State of Colorado’s School Security Disbursement grant of $564,375 and Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant of $7,529,525 grant to Meeker RE-1. Both grants shall be used to reduce the local tax burden by paying down bond principal in a total amount of $8,093,900. This will enable local taxpayers to pay considerably less interest over the next 20 years. Total repayment of principal and interest on the bonds will be, at minimum, $12.6 million less than approved by voters in November 2018.
“We sold our first $28 million in bonds on Jan. 16, 2019, to get the high school and bus garage projects started, then waited to see how we did with the BEST grant that was awarded in May. Since our project was ranked No. 1 in the state on the BEST Grant Docket, we were able to structure this sale to allow us to repay principal on the bonds with the BEST grant and meet our pledge to voters to pay down our bond with any grant monies received,” said Meeker RE-1 Superintendent Chris Selle. “We recognized the lack of other high-quality issues in the Colorado marketplace over the summer and had been watching interest rates trend downward since late 2018, which allowed us to lock in lower rates on this sale,” added Selle. Selle also noted, “The Meeker School District Board of Education again wishes to express genuine appreciation to our community for their financial support of these projects which will serve the needs of our students for years to come.”
Special to the Herald Times
