White Salmon Valley School District completes successful $55 million bond sale

Strong demand from investors across the country allowed the district to lower interest rates during the sale. The overall borrowing cost for the bond issue is 4.14%.

“This successful bond sale reflects both the strength of our district’s financial position and the confidence investors have in our community,” said Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn. “We are grateful to our voters for investing in our schools, and we remain committed to managing these funds responsibly and transparently.”

The district’s strong credit rating, combined with the AAA rating provided through the Washington School Bond Guarantee Program, allowed the district to obtain interest rates comparable to those available to larger school districts in Washington.

The district structured its bond financing plan to provide project funding when needed, reduce interest costs and manage the risk of changing market conditions. The larger initial bond sale also helps protect the district from the potential effects of future interest rate increases.

Current projections indicate the new bond tax rate will align with rates anticipated during bond planning. The bond tax rate is estimated to be $1.66 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

When combined with the projected rates for existing bonds and the district’s operating levy, the total local school tax rate is estimated at $3.42 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The bond proceeds are scheduled to be deposited into the district’s Capital Projects Fund on Aug. 11. Until the funds are needed for project expenses, they will be invested through Washington state investment pools.

“This outcome helps us move forward with the capital improvements approved by our community while keeping borrowing costs and taxpayer impacts at the forefront of our decisions,” said Peter Harkama, chair of the White Salmon Valley School District Board of Directors.

WSVSD is committed to keeping the community updated on the progress of capital bond planning efforts and projects through regular updates on its bond webpage, www.wsvsd.org/o/wsvsd/page/bond.