Newport Daily News
NEWPORT – When the City Council develops a budget for the coming fiscal year that begins on July 1, it will have an extra $1 million to plug in because of school bond savings.
City Finance Director Laura Sitrin told council members Wednesday night the city issued general obligation bonds totaling $28.575 million on June 20, 2013, to finance construction of the new Pell Elementary School. These bonds were essentially loans from the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corp., taken at an average bond interest rate of 4.4%.
The city wanted to take advantage of the lower interest rates that are currently prevailing around the country, since there are about 12 years left to pay off on these Pell bonds. The balance on the bonds will be $17.22 million as of June 30, 2021, Sitrin said.