Cardiff School District sells $14M in general obligation bonds

The Cardiff School District has announced the completed sale of $14 million in general obligation bonds.

Series A was completed on Feb. 23, and the funds were received March 9, the school district announced in a news release March 21.

The district said this is the first issuance of the $22 million in general obligation bonds that were approved under Measure GG in the 2016 election. The money will be used to help rebuild, upgrade and renovate district facilities, as well as improve energy efficiency and “modernize and enhance student learning environments.”

“The Cardiff School District Board of Trustees, staff and parents would like to sincerely thank the residents of Cardiff-by-the Sea for their support in passing Measure GG in November 2016 with a 65.9% approval rate,” said Mark Whitehouse, president of the Cardiff School District Board of Trustees, in a statement. “We are excited to get the rebuilding project started at Cardiff Elementary. It’s a great honor to have the opportunity to improve the learning environment for the current and future students of the community.”

Robert W. Baird, which led a syndicate of 25 separate underwriting firms, was the winning bidder with a true bid interest cost of 3.8 percent in a competitive bid sale.

The total debt service associated with the Series A bonds will be $26.8 million. The repayment ratio for the Series A bonds is 1.91 to one, which is lower than anticipated and within the statutory requirement of four to one. Cardiff-by-the-Sea property owners will see an increase of $25.75 per $100,000 of assessed value on their December 2017 property tax bill. The final maturity of the bonds is in 2046 and the average life of the bonds is 23.6 years and no capital appreciation bonds were sold as per board policy.

The District’s series A bonds were priced competitively after S&P Global assigned the series A bonds an ‘AA+’ long-term rating using updated information on the District’s credit profile. S&P Global also raised its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) to ‘AA+’ from ‘AA’ on Cardiff School District’s existing unlimited general obligation (GO) bonds.

Cardiff School District also announced that Leucadia resident Randy Peterson has been hired as the district’s bond program manager. He will provide program management for all aspects of the Measure GG bond program, the district said.

The district’s Board of Trustees also appointed an Independent Citizens Oversight Committee that will monitor and provide oversight of the district’s use of the bond proceeds.

— Submitted press release