Compton Unified School District successfully issues
$229.9 million in Measure S bonds
Compton, CA – Compton Unified School District successfully issued its Election of 2015 Series B bonds. The Series B bonds represents the second series of bonds under Measure S, authorizing the District to issuance up to $350 million in general obligation bonds.
The District achieved bond ratings of “Aa3” from Moody’s Investors Service and “A” with a Positive Outlook from Standard and Poor’s. The rating agencies cited the District’s growing tax base, strong liquidity levels and demonstrated history of conservative financial practices as credit strengths of the District.
The District’s strong performance and solid credit ratings helped attract significant investor interest. On the day of the sale, the District’s bonds attracted 64 different investors generating total orders of $2.48 billion or 8.5x the amount of bonds offered. This strong reception allowed the District to reduce financing costs significantly from original estimates provided to the public during the Measure S planning process.
Strong investor participation coupled with historically low interest rates enabled the District to significantly reduce the community’s future debt liability. The Series B bonds have a borrowing cost (true interest cost) of 3.07% with a final maturity of 2049. The District estimates that the new maximum tax rate will not exceed $60 per $100,000 of assessed value throughout the life of the Measure S bond program. The Series B bonds generated $229.6 million in project proceeds, which will be used to begin critical school facility improvements, primarily to Compton High School.
