Lawmakers OK bonds for college buildings

JACKSON — State legislators authorized $196.4 million worth of bonds Monday to finance construction projects at Mississippi colleges and universities, and buildings across the state.

The bulk of the bonds, $96.5 million, was authorized for projects at universities, including $31 million for a new medical school building at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Ole Miss received authorization for $6 million worth of bonds at its other campuses.

Legislators authorized $25 million for community colleges, which includes $2.1 million for Northwest Mississippi Community College.

The school, based in Senatobia, plans to apply the bond authorization toward a new health sciences building at NWCC, said Dr. Gary Spears, the school’s president.

Building plans have not been completed, but it likely will cost between $4 million and $5 million, Spears said.

“We are trying not to duplicate programs that are in any of the community colleges nearby,” he said.

During his annual State of the State speech in January, Gov. Phil Bryant called on legislators to fund the medical school building at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Bryant said the med school expansion could help the university train 1,000 new physicians by 2025.

Legislators did not authorize bonds during the 2012 legislative session.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, the Senate’s presiding officer, said the state needed to reduce its overall debt, and adding new projects would increase the debt burden.

In addition, Reeves said he opposed authorizing bonds for repair and renovation projects as well as temporary fixes on buildings that would not last as long as the long-term bonds issued to pay for them.

Now is a good time to authorize bonds because interest rates have rarely been as low as they are this year, said Rep. Jeff Smith, R- Columbus, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Smith, whose law practice includes dealing with bonds, noted that the state is retiring more than $232 million while authorizing the issuance of $196.4 million, which lowers the amount of interest state taxpayers have to pay on the borrowed money.

Taxpayers would pay less than $65,000 interest for each $1 million state agencies borrow under the new bond authorizations, he said.

“This is the lowest interest (rate) I’ve seen, and I’ve been doing bonds for a number of years,” Smith said.