PIQUA — Piqua City Schools recently locked in new interest rates to refinance portions of the District’s Series 2012 Bonds that will save homeowners and businesses in the district $1,376,578 over the next 20 years. The Series 2012 Bonds were issued for the construction of a new fourth through sixth grade school building and two new prekindergarten through third grade school buildings.

This savings is generated by lowering the interest costs that taxpayers will be paying over the life of the bonds. The district achieved an all-in interest rate of 2.86 percent over the life of the new loan. These are impressive results for the Piqua City School District. The refunding bonds have the same final maturity (December 1, 2040) as the refunded bonds.

The bond industry standard considers a refinancing economically feasible when the net present value savings as a percentage of the refunded bond paramount exceeds 3-5 percent. The net present value savings of the district’s reduction in interest represents a savings of 8.49 percent.

The savings will lower the millage required to be collected and future payments that taxpayers will make on the bonds will be lower. The Board of Education has been committed to be respectful of the taxpayers and providing excellent value for the taxes they pay.

Jeremie Hittle, treasurer/CFO of Piqua City Schools said, “Our team was able to act quickly to lock in the historically low rates. We have been planning this for the last few months and we were waiting for the right time to make our move. Fortunately, we were able to see greater than average savings helping all taxpayers of Piqua.”

Dwayne Thompson, superintendent of Piqua City Schools said, “It is rewarding to be able to help save taxpayers money after they so generously provided the new primary buildings to the district. We are always looking for ways to save our citizens money and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”