Capistrano School Board Agrees to Refinance Debt
Like homeowners refinancing their mortgages, Capistrano Unified School District trustees agreed this week to issue tax refunding bonds that officials estimate will save property owners in Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo as much as $7 million in the long run.
In 1987, school district trustees formed the Community Facilities District to raise money by selling bonds. One CFD bond issue was sold in 1989 for more than $44 million and another in 1990 for about $33 million.
The newly formed Capistrano Unified Public Financing Authority will buy the old CFD bonds and issue new ones at a lower interest rate. The proceeds will provide up to $3 million in financing for new facilities without increasing the overall debt payment.
“I’m glad we’re doing this,” Trustee Paul Haseman said. “We’re doing the taxpayers a service at the same time we’re doing the district a service.”
John Gibson, a district consultant and underwriter for the brokerage Stone and Youngberg in Sherman Oaks, said the refinancing takes advantage of the current low interest rates.
The new bonds, which will mature in 2020, will save up to $7 million in interest payments, he said.
The new bonds will be sold by the end of July or in early August, school district officials said.
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