By Ryan Storz
The Crawford County R-1 School District will pay just $283,000 of interest over the life of the 15-year $2 million loan they received earlier this year.
Dick Bartow of George K. Baum, an investment banking firm, had the school district rated by Standard & Poor’s and found that, because the board had exercised good fiscal responsibility, they had received an A-plus rating, which makes the $1.5 million bond issues more favorable to investors.
Bartow explained that there are only a few schools in the state that have such a high rating, naming off Ladue and Clayton as two examples.
He also said that, because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed in January, the interest rate will stay low. Bourbon was set to pay between $800,000-$900,000 on the interest of the loan but will, instead, save over a half million dollars.
Should Bourbon go forward with more bond issues, the A-plus rating will help them, but the school would have to be rerated.