Refinancing saves $1M for taxpayers

ROCKFORD - A Parkway school official recently refinanced the school's bond issue, saving taxpayers more than $1 million.

With interest rates at all-time lows, treasurer Debbie Pierce said now is the perfect time to refinance.

"I was refinancing my mortgage and thought we should consider this for the school too," she said during Tuesday's school board meeting. "You can only refinance once, and with the economy starting to pick up, we thought this would be the best time to do it."

Parkway's bond issue had an average interest rate of 4.32 percent and was scheduled for payoff in 2030. The interest rate now is 2.98 percent, and the bond will be paid off a year earlier, saving taxpayers $1.1 million, Pierce said.

"This won't bring any more money to the district, but it'll save the taxpayers money," she said.

The district's 28-year bond issue passed November 2002 for the construction of the new school. Tax collection began in 2003. From 2003 to 2011, district taxpayers paid $2.7 million. Original millage was set at 8.3. As property values increased, millage was rolled back to 7.7 so the school continues to collect the same amount of money.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, board members:

• Approved the retirement of second-grade teacher Art Bader, effective May 31, after 36 years of service. The school board will hold a public meeting at 6:15 p.m. March 13 to consider rehiring Bader. The rehire-retire option allows public employees to begin collecting retirement benefits while still receiving a paycheck.

• Approved a contract renewal with Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative as the district's Internet service provider from July 1 to June 30, 2013. The school will pay $1,900 per month.

• Approved a contract renewal with eSchool View to provide website services for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years. The school will pay $2,724 per year.