ASHLAND — The Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center will pay a little more than expected in interest to finance its portion of a $43 million project to remodel the school building and buy and remodel the Ashland County Service Center building next door for adult education programs and administrative offices.
School Treasurer Julie Smith also told the Career Center Board of Education at its Thursday, Feb. 17 meeting, that the 3.14% interest rate for bonds sold a week earlier was just a little higher than the expected 3.09% rate.
“That day was the day the Consumer Price Index came out and it caused a little bit of concern with investors, so at the end of the day we came out with a 3.14, which is still really good,” Smith said.
Smith noted that interest rates have continued to rise since then.
Just prior to the sale, Smith said Moody’s Investor Service gave the Career Center an AA-2 debt rating, which she described as “phenomenal.”
She told the board the rating allowed the bonds to be issued as a total $34 million package without having to use the state’s credit enhancement program and leverage state foundation funds as collateral.
“We’ll close on the bonds on March 3, we’ll receive the funds that day and we’ll be off and running, which will allow us to obtain our funding from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission,” Smith said.
In a related action, the Career Center Board authorized Smith to enter into an investment management agreement with Red Tree Investment Group of Cincinnati to invest the project funds and leverage the investment. By law, she said the investments cannot exceed the interest paid to the bond investors.
Smith said Red Tree has worked with a number of other school and career tech projects and comes “highly recommended.”
Career Center officials have been working on the facility improvement project since 2019 after the OFCC put the school at the top of the list of career technical schools for state aid to improve existing facilities. Voters in Ashland and Holmes counties approved a 1.1 mill permanent improvement levy in November to pay for the work.
The Career Center has made a request for qualifications for a design firm and will be making a similar request for a construction management firm. The board’s building and grounds committee will review the submissions and make recommendations to the full board. No formal construction timetable has been set.
In other business, the Career Center Board:
· Approved a 12-year, 75% Community Reinvestment Act tax abatement for PHW Holding Company LLC in Millersburg.
· Approved maximum fees for tuition, books and materials for 12 adult education programs for the 2022-2023 school year.
· Designated Smith to attend Ohio Sunshine Law training on behalf of the board.
· Adopted the Vocational School District’s calendar for the 2022-2023 school year.
· Recognized 30 companies for $3,114 worth of donations for the school’s 2021-2022 Career Fair.
