A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
4
A
UGUST
18, 2011
N
ORTHVILLE
- P
LYMOUTH
- C
ANTON
The sale of refunding bonds by
the Northville Public Schools will
save taxpayers nearly $275,000.
According to Superintendent of
Schools Mary Kay Gallagher, the
district will also be able to make
lower debt payments during the
next 10 years in addition to the sav-
ings. The bond purchasing agree-
ment was approved by members of
the board of education at their Aug.
9, meeting.
Northville Public Schools will
have slightly lower debt service
payments beginning in May 2012,
and taxpayers will notice a lower
school debt millage beginning with
the 2012 tax bills, Gallagher said.
Bond refunding is similar to a
homeowner refinancing a mort-
gage to exchange high cost debt for
low cost debt. The district is taking
advantage of the current low long-
term interest rates to issue refund-
ing bonds, she added.
The new bonds will be used to
redeem the $5.6 million remaining
from the $27.5million bond propos-
al approved by voters in 2001 that
paid for the building of RidgeWood
Elementary School and additions
at Northville High School, Moraine
Elementary School, Winchester
Elementary School and Amerman
Elementary School, among other
capital improvements across the
district.
In preparing to sell the 2011
refunding bonds, Northville Public
Schools, working with financial
advisor Stauder, Barch &
Associates, requested that
Standard &Poor's Ratings Services
evaluate the district's credit quality.
“Our district was able to sell
these bonds because of our out-
standing rating of 'A' by Standard &
Poor's,” said Gallagher. “The rating
agency cited our strong income lev-
els, stable enrollment and low to
moderate debt burden in its ration-
ale for rating Northville Public
Schools at the 'A' level.”
“The refunding of bonds at this
time will translate into real savings
for school district residents,”
Gallagher added. “During these dif-
ficult financial times for our state
and our schools, one of the primary
goals of our board of education is to
look for ways to achieve long-term
savings without impacting the out-
standing educational programs and
serviceswe offer our students.”
Northville Board of Education
members authorized the refinanc-
ing of the bonds last October. Since
that time, interest rates were moni-
tored to select an appropriate time
to market the bonds and achieve
the largest amount of savings, said
Assistant Superintendent for
Finance and Operations Michael
Zopf.
The financing of the Northville
Public Schools refunding bonds
was conducted by the Michigan
investment banking office of the
brokerage firm Stifel, Nicolaus &
Co., Inc. and Stauder, Barch, the
district's financial advisor. The dis-
trict's bonds were sold at an inter-
est rate of 3.53 percent, with a final
maturity of 2021.
“Northville Public Schools'
bonds were well received by the
bond market,” said Brenda
Voutyras, senior vice president and
managing director with Stifel,
Nicolaus.
“We were able to take advantage
of current low rates that resulted in
a savings level that met the goals of
the district.”
City hall blood drive will
reward donors with candy
How sweet it is to help save a life and
enjoy a box of chocolates as a reward.
Every donor at the American Red Cross
sponsored summer blood drive at
PlymouthCityHall from1-7 p.m. Thursday,
Aug. 25 will receive a coupon for a box of
chocolate.
Those who donated June 3 are eligible
to donate blood at this drive, too. Donors
must not have donated blood within 56
days of Aug. 25. Sixteen year olds can now
also donate bloodwithparental consent
There is always a need for blood and
only volunteer donors can fulfill that need
for patients in our community.
Nationwide, someone needs a unit of
blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us
will need blood in our lifetime, a
spokesman said.
Those who come to donate blood will
also be entered into a raffle for a pair of
Cedar Point tickets. In addition, they will
automatically be eligible for a summer
blood donor raffle for a $3,000 gasoline
card.
Plymouth City Hall is located at 201 S.
Main St. Appointments to donate can be
made online atwww.redcrossblood.org and
enter sponsor code, PCH.
Walk-ins arewelcome.
For more information, call (866) 236-
3276.
Wedding ‘belles’
Local models show historic gowns
Members of the Canton community
will be donning wedding gowns from the
past during a special fashion show this
Sunday at the Village Theater at Cherry
Hill.
The Canton Historical Society will
present A Century of Wedding Gowns
starting at 2:30 p.m., a fashion show fea-
turing gowns fromthe past 115 years.
Exhibits of wedding memorabilia
from past eras will be on display begin-
ning at 2 p.m. and visitors will also be
able to bid on items donated by local
businesses in a silent auction.
A special dessert and punch recep-
tion will follow the period fashion show
and the brides will be available for pho-
tos.
Proceeds from the fashion show will
benefit the Canton Historical Museum's
textile preservation project. Tickets are
$15 and are available online at www.can-
tonvillagetheater.org or by phone at (734)
394-5300. Tickets can also be purchased
at TheVillageTheater at CherryHill box
office, located at 50400 Cherry Hill Road
and at the Summit on the Park, located
at 46000 Summit Parkway.
For more information about A
Century of Wedding Gowns fashion show
visit www.cantonvillagetheater.org or
call (734)394-5300.
We were able to take advantage of current
low rates that resulted in a savings
level that met the goals of the district.
”
Bond sale will save schools $275,000