District sells bonds beginning next week

A trip to Chicago to state a case for a favorable bond rating at Moody’s Investors Service resulted in a Aa2 rating for Amherst Exempted Village Schools.

“We were excited about that,” said Amherst Schools Treasurer Barb Donohue at an April 24 school board meeting at Steele High School, 450 Washington St. in Amherst. “We kept our Aa2 bond rating. The next higher district of Aa1 would be a great deal larger. We would have to grow quite a bit to make that step.

“Our first bond sale is May 2,” Donohue said. “Our second bond sale begins May 18. It will be on our school website. Our broker out of Westlake will be handling that. It will be in increments of $5,000 for the bonds. You never know on pricing day what will happen with the market. I can’t say enough good about the trip.

“We sold that ballot issue in November as, ‘No new taxes,’” Donohue said. “And right now that will be the case.”

The representatives who presented the district before Moody employees included Donohue, AEVS Board President Ron Yacobozzi, and Superintendent Steve Sayers.

Each studied certain aspects of the school district, the community and the county, they said, and presented the information.

“A lot goes into a bond rating,” Donohue said. “We had good news, and we were able to share. It was so important to go.”

The Moody’s analysts questioned every aspect of life in the greater Amherst area.

“If we left something out, we might have been downgraded by not answering a question,” Donohue said, adding a downgrade of one point would have cost the district $700,000.

The school district is in very solid financial shape, Yacobozzi said.

“Our financial strength is actually Aaa,” Yacobozzi said. “But things going on in Lorain County, and in Lorain, it went to Aa2. The analysts usually don’t comment, but they said right there they saw no problem keeping our Aa2 rating.

“It was a very intense comprehensive report that covered every area. We covered every rock,” Yacobozzi said.

Yacobozzi paid for his own trip, including meals and accommodations, he said.

“It was a great experience,” Yacobozzi said. “Amherst has never had to do this before. It used to be you could purchase an insurance policy that could take you to the rating you wanted.”

Sayers said Yacobozzi and Donohue “did a fabulous job. It was a team effort. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun at the same time. To be able to be there, and to talk about Amherst and the community. It was a fun story to tell.

“(Yacobozzi) mentioned finances being such a key part of our rating,” Sayers said. “How important this renewal levy is. This is a key piece to our financial stability. We’re hoping everyone gets out there on Tuesday (May 2) and supports our students and schools. Tell your friends and neighbors and emphasize exactly how important this levy is.”

The bond rate analysts said they do not want to see a temporary or emergency levy. They want to see permanent levies because the need does not go away, Yacobozzi said.