Henry County Schools approved paying off $30.4 million of its bond debt ahead of schedule. This move will save future taxpayers up to $5 million dollars in otherwise owed interest payments.
The school board approved the 2024 bond defeasement at their June meeting. The bond debt is from capital projects, chiefly the cost to build new schools.
2024 Bond Defeasement
Henry County Schools has outstanding bond debt from three bond series. They were issued in 2016, 2018 and 2021, respectively. Each bond series was for capital projects, in conjunction with the district’s education SPLOST program. Prior to the 2024 bond defeasement, the following debt was outstanding:
| Bond Series | Original Principal Amount | Remaining Debt |
|---|---|---|
| Series 2016 | $214.255 M | $72.62 M |
| Series 2018 | $110.745 M | $8.865 M |
| Series 2021 | $210 M | $210 M |
On June 10, 2024, the school board approved to defease $30.4 million of principal associated with the series 2021 bonds. This will result in interest savings up to $5 million in future interest payments that would otherwise be required in years 2024-2033.
To accomplish this, the board approved spending $36.6 million from its debt service fund. Debt service funds come from the district’s bond debt millage rate. In 2023, this amount was 3.628 mills on property taxes. The board is considering a decrease of the bond rate to two mills this year. This would result in many property owners seeing a reduction in their school board property taxes. The board will consider adopting its millage rate on July 22.
Education SPLOST Projects
The bond debt discussed above goes towards the cost of education SPLOST projects. Henry County voters last approved E-SPLOST in spring 2026. The school board is presently in their sixth iteration of the program, or E-SPLOST VI.
Some E-SPLOST VI projects to date include the following:
- the classroom addition at Dutchtown High School finished in 2023, the first of six classroom addition projects,
- the new Birch Creek Elementary in McDonough opening this August, the first of two new elementary schools,
- bought new student and teacher laptops,
- purchased 75 new school busses, 25 per year, with two more annual purchase groups to follow, and
- upgraded the door security & access control system at all schools.
The district is nearly complete with installing new digital message boards at school entrances. Please note a few schools will be receiving their message boards in the future. This is the case for schools with planned classroom addition projects.
Other ongoing construction projects include the new bus maintenance facility west of I-75. This will give the district more garage space to maintain its bus fleet, and it will better serve schools located on the west side of Henry County. Construction is also underway on the district office expansion in McDonough. The new building replaces several trailers that district staff have otherwise used as their office space.
In June, the board approved the construction bid for the Ola Middle School classroom addition. Construction will start soon on this project. Finally, the district is accepting construction bids now for its new STEM high school. The school board should consider approving a contract award in August.
To learn more about specific education SPLOST projects, check out our E-SPLOST archives.
Featured image shows the Dutchtown High School classroom addition under construction in November 2022. Swofford Construction photo.
Be the first to comment