by Garth Meyer
The Redondo Beach Unified School District has refinanced bonds from the 2000, 2008 and 2012 elections to save taxpayers $3.2 million.
The change was approved by the school board Feb. 22., on the advice of the district’s financial firm, Isom Advisors, based in Tustin, Calif.
The bond’s 4.94 percent average interest rates were replaced with an average of 2.56 percent.
“Our advisors come to us when the market conditions are right,” said Annette Alpern, deputy superintendent for administrative services at Redondo Beach Unified School District (RBUSD). “We sort of had to strike while the iron was hot.”
As a result, homeowners with a house assessed at $1 million will see their school tax reduced $10 per year. Previous bond refinancings over the past 10 years cut taxes on similarly valued homes $34 per year.
Bond funds have been used to renovate district classrooms, laboratories and sports facilities. A $2 million, district-wide computer network upgrade is the last of the three bonds’ projects that remains to be done.
“Our community has been very supportive of our schools over the years and in turn we wanted to give back to them by saving taxpayer dollars,” said RBUSD Superintendent Steven Keller. “While the education of local students is a core mission, we also try to be mindful of all of our district responsibilities, and that includes looking out for our taxpayers.” ER
