Detroit Schools Announce Construction Bond Sales
Detroit's public school district has announced the sale of more than $210 million in capital improvement bonds. This will allow the district to complete financing of 18 construction and renovation projects.
DPS Emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said Wednesday in a telephone conference that proceeds from the bond sales will be available by Oct. 28.
"The market was really favorable to us today. We did much better than we did last year," Bobb said.
The money will be used for various projects including the ground breaking of new schools. "We'll be building four new schools, two of which will be high schools," Bobb said.
One renovation project has been completed and nine others are under way. The final eight projects are expected to start this fall. Detroit voters approved the sale of $500.5 million in capital improvement bonds last November.
Bobb said nearly $67.5 million in interest will be saved over the life of the bonds compared to traditional tax-exempt financing.
All bond money has to be spent within three years.
(Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
