Published in the December 23, 2015 – January 5, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
The Morgan Hill Unified School District gave taxpayers an early Christmas. It is refunding Measure B bonds and reducing existing debt service payments by about $1.9 million during the next four years, resulting in lower property taxes beginning in the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
MHUSD took advantage of low interest rates by refinancing its remaining general obligation bond issue from the district’s Measure B authorization approved by voters in 1999.
The refunding bonds were offered to investors Nov. 17. The total borrowing cost for the refunding bonds is 2.06 percent. The sole purpose of refunding of the bonds was to lower annual debt payments and reduce property taxes for local residents and businesses.
The district’s staff met with representatives of Moody’s Investors Service, a bond credit rating agency, to receive a new credit rating for the refunding bonds. Moody’s upgraded the district’s general obligation bond credit rating to “Aa1” from “Aa2.”
A rating of Aa1 is the highest of Moody’s “double-A” category.
The response from investors was strong, resulting in more orders for bonds than there were bonds to sell. More than 20 different institutional investors placed orders for the bonds.
