Parkland Saves almost $1.3 Million in Bond Refinancing

Parkland school directors got an early Christmas gift Tuesday night when Director of Business Administration John Vignone announced the district will save $1,281,950 over the next several budget years due to a well-timed refinancing of their 2007 series bonds.

Directors gave the go ahead to refinance in October - setting a minimum savings threshold of $500,000. Over the past 14 months, the district has refinanced three bonds for a total savings of more than $3.3 million.

Vignone said their most recent success was due in part to Parkland's favorable credit rating and the looming fiscal cliff.

"We’ve heard it over and over the past few weeks that it's because of the fiscal cliff," Vignone said. "Municipal bonds are some of the safest investments you can make and during upheaval they are even more attractive."

He said the "tricky" part of the refinancing was "pulling the trigger" at the right time when there wasn't a "flurry of other sales" happening to dilute the market.

Vignone worked with Public Financial Management and RBC Capital Markets to coordinate the transaction in the amount of $8,955,000.