Moorhead school board ratifies $34.525 million refunding bond sale; adviser says about $1.2 million in taxpayer savings

On Jan. 12, the Moorhead Area Public Schools Board of Education voted to ratify the issuance and sale of $34,525,000 in general obligation school building refunding bonds (Series 2026A). The motion to approve the resolution was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote.

District financial adviser Matthew Hammer of Miller’s/TRB Capital Markets presented the presale report and described the sale process. “We ended up receiving 17 letters through a competitive bond sale process,” Hammer said, adding the district achieved a true interest cost of “about 2.46%,” below the presale estimate. He told the board the results translate to “about $1,200,000 of debt service savings that has to go back to taxpayers by law.”

Hammer explained timing and next steps: the district is scheduled to close on the bonds on Jan. 29, followed by a 35‑day redemption notice period. A portion of the 2016 bonds identified as callable will be redeemed on March 5, after which the district will begin paying on the new bonds at the lower interest cost.

Board members asked technical questions and heard that the rating agency affirmed the district’s underlying rating during the sale. District staff emphasized that, under Minnesota law, the savings generated by a refunding sale must be applied to reduce future debt‑service levies rather than be absorbed into the operating budget.

The board’s vote ratified the administration recommendation to complete the sale; no roll‑call tally with member names for the vote was recorded in the public transcript. The bonds’ closing and the subsequent redemption notice start the statutory timeline for returning the savings to taxpayers.