Pa. Schools to Receive $325.5 Million for Projects

WORMLEYSBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania State Public School Building Authority, a state agency that assists school districts and community colleges in obtaining financing, is selling $325.5 million in taxable qualified school construction bonds, representing the largest bond deal the program has made since it started up last year.

 

The bonds, which will be released Sept. 30, will support renovations and building projects at 46 districts statewide. The federally subsidized bonds mature in 17 years.

 

“The deal is marketable because of its size and domestic buyers’ comfort with U.S. municipal credit,” says Alan Schankel, director of fixed-income research for Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, an underwriter of the bonds that is headquarted in Philadelphia. “Given that these don’t go head-to-head with the 30-year (Build America Bonds), I expect the deal will be well-received.”

 

The Pennsylvania deal comes amidst a number of large construction bond packages sold by schools nationwide, including $212 million by Tennessee schools and $151 million in securities by schools in Massachusetts. Ohio schools plan to sell some $330 million in general obligation bonds in the near future, as does the New York State Urban Development Corp. ($471 million in tax-exempt bonds) and the State of New Jersey ($665 million, including $93 million in tax exempts).