The Oconee County Board of Education has decided to take the required legal step to issue $12.1 million in General Obligation Sales Tax Bonds to be retired by funds from the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) voters approved in November.
The bonds will be sold at interest rates not to exceed 5.5 percent per year, and principal is to be paid beginning in 2028 and running through 2032, or one year longer than the ESPLOST approved in November is scheduled to run.
Board of Education Chair Michael Ransom said that the Board has not decided to issue the bonds but is going forward with certification of the bond sales “to give us added flexibility if needed.”
Ransom said the Board did not actually take a formal vote to proceed with certification, since “Validation has been part of the ESPLOST discussion from the start.” The language of the referendum approved by voters in November allowed for the $12.1 million in bond sales.
A hearing on validation of the bonds is scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 16 in Oconee County Superior Court at the Courthouse in Watkinsville.
A notice of that hearing appears, as required, on page B3 in the legal notices of the April 9 edition of The Oconee Enterprise, the designated legal organ of the county.
Purpose Of Bond Sales
Ransom, in an email exchange last week after the legal advertisement appeared in the Enterprise, said the Board has started “setting aside funds to cover some of the larger ESPLOST projects.”
 |
| Ransom 3/9/2026 |
“We’re also applying for bonds to give us added flexibility if needed,” Ransom continued. “The goal is to be prepared with options in place, but to rely on ESPLOST first and foremost. As long as collections come in as expected, we do not plan to issue or sell the bonds.”
At its meeting on March 9, Oconee County Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams reported that ESPLOST collections have been at more than $1 million each month for the last 11 months.
Adams also reported that $12.3 million was in the Debt Service Escrow Account for ESPLOST, with the only bond payment due this calendar year for bonds issued for the current ESPLOST of $517,925.
The Board provided voters with a list of projects to be funded by renewal of ESPLOST before the vote in November. The list included digital scoreboards for the sports fields at the two high schools, interactive panels in the schools, and a list of improvements at Oconee County Elementary School.
The Board has decided to go forward with the scoreboards, interactive panels, and some of the improvements at Oconee County Elementary Schools, voting in February to fund those projects from excess revenue generated by the current ESPLOST.
Adams reported in March the transfer of just more than $5 million from the Escrow Account to fund those and other ESPLOST projects, reducing it to the $12.3 million.
The referendum approved by voters in November specified that the ESPLOST 1 percent sales tax is “for the raising of not more than $87.8 million” for school capital spending during its five-year life span.
If the Board does decide to issue bonds, it will have to pass a bond resolution establishing the interest rates, the terms of payment, and other terms in connection with their issuance and delivery.
No comments:
Post a Comment