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Hand it t
o the Ogden School District: Faced with mushrooming construction costs, district leaders were wondering how they could make the $95 million bond passed in 2006 stretch far enough to cover all the promised projects. It looks like they may have figured out a way to do just that.
Apparently, that old saying about necessity being the mother of invention also applies to school funding.
According to Superintendent Noel Zabriskie, the district's business administrator, Eugene Hart, has been tracking interest rates and bonding options like a man possessed, and his timing -- he pounced on low- and no-interest bonds -- will help Ogden taxpayers save millions of dollars over the 20-year lives of the obligations, and cover all promised construction and reconstruction projects.
Not so long ago, the outlook was considerably dimmer, as school officials forecast higher-than-anticipated construction costs and, obviously, higher-than-anticipated interest rates.
What this means to Ogden taxpayers is that while they will be paying the expected $75 per year on the bonds for the first part of the payoff period, over time district officials estimate the amount will diminish into the range of $40 to $50 per year.
Never let it be said the Standard-Examiner's editorial board doesn't appreciate it when government agencies save a few bucks. Way to go, Ogden School District.
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