Wilson County commissioners on Nov. 3 approved a resolution to authorize negotiation of installment financing to fund Frederick Douglass Elementary School and multiple county capital projects.

Ted Cole, senior vice president with Davenport & Associates, told commissioners the borrowing request reflects total project amounts of $35,370,271 and a par (total loan amount) of about $35,000,005.80, and that the cost of issuance budget is a little over $209,000. "The borrowing amount has come down by about $50,000 as we have fine tuned project costs and the cost of issuance," Cole said. He told the board the county could be in position to close the loan on Dec. 11 if the required Local Government Commission (LGC) steps proceed as planned.

Cole described the transaction structure as a limited obligation bond that involves a financing corporation and noted the public hearing and a preliminary findings resolution were required steps before submitting the application to the Local Government Commission in Raleigh. If the financing closes, funds will reimburse prior expenditures and provide proceeds for future invoices; monies for unspent project costs will be invested until drawn down.

The public hearing attracted no members of the public to speak on the matter. After closing the hearing, the board moved and approved the preliminary findings resolution by voice vote. The motion was approved as presented; specific roll-call tallies were not provided in the meeting record.

The presentation and subsequent staff remarks clarified that the county and school funding amounts will continue to be tracked separately. Cole said final numbers could be circulated to the working group the day after the meeting as the application to the LGC is finalized.

The item advances a multi-project financing plan that, per the presentation, includes several county projects (itemized in the packet) and Frederick Douglass Elementary based on a contractor guaranteed maximum price. The board did not discuss or adopt a final bond ordinance or adoption resolution at this meeting; the approved resolution authorized negotiation and submission steps toward final approval.

Provenance: this article summarizes the public hearing presentation by Ted Cole and the board's subsequent vote (transcript starts at 00:06:24 and continues through the resolution vote at 00:12:21).