Impatient Dist. 300 may borrow early

Community Unit District 300 officials are tired of waiting on Springfield to start expanding the district's crowded middle schools.

The state reimburses school districts for new classroom space on a first-come, first-served basis, so District 300 was expecting to get $30 million in capital development revenue after building three new schools since 2006.

The General Assembly, however, hasn't passed a capital bill, which presumably would contain the $30 million, since Rod Blagojevich was elected governor.

With the passage of a capital bill uncertain in the immediate future, district officials are considering issuing $45 million in bonds this year -- the remainder of the $185 million voters approved in 2006.

District officials previously have said the remaining bonds could not be issued until 2009 -- or else the district would break its promise to taxpayers to keep the bond tax rate at 47 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

But now district officials say they will be able to stick to their promise, even with the new bond sale.

Under a plan presented to the school board this week, District 300 would refinance existing bonds at lower interest rates.

The lower annual interest payments, district officials say, would allow the district to issue the remaining $45 million in bonds this year without exceeding the 47-cent bond tax rate.

The tax rate rose above 47 cents in 2006 and 2007, but district officials rounded the figure down to 47 cents.

The restructuring of existing debt and the early issuance of the $45 million would cost taxpayers an estimated $4 million over the life of the bonds, according to William Blair and Co., the district's bond consultant.

The $4 million would include the added cost in interest payments from extending the life of the bonds, as well as the cost of refinancing, District 300 Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Crates said.

But Crates said the additional cost would be worth it because of rising construction costs.

"What we would save in interest money, we'd eat it up in a year in inflation," Crates said. "It made no fiscal sense to wait."

The district plans to spend at least $27 million to renovate Dundee Middle School, Westfield Community School, Hampshire Middle School and Algonquin Middle School.

Under the plan presented Monday, work on the schools would begin in the summer and finish by the start of the 2009-10 school year.

If the capital money doesn't materialize soon, several projects district officials said they would complete with referendum money -- including more than $20 million in elementary school renovations -- would have to be delayed indefinitely.

But if the cost estimates for the middle schools hold, the district may have enough bond revenue left over to build a new school on the east side -- an idea some board members have proposed to address crowding at Perry and Golfview elementary schools.

The board could make a decision on the bond restructuring plan as soon as Jan. 28, board members say.