Douglas County Unified School District #497, KS Issues $43.5 Million

Sep 24, 2018 | Municipal Bond Market News/Research, Municipal Bonds, Municipal Finance

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Lawrence USD issues school improvement bonds( )

Featured Municipal Bond Issue, Week of September 24, 2018:   Unified School District #497 Douglas County, Kansas (Lawrence) — $43.5  Million

The Lawrence Unified School District #497, Kansas (officially called the Unified School District #497 Douglas County) is issuing $43.5 million in general obligation bonds for the purposes of capital improvements to  existing schools.  The bond issue being sold is the second and final portion of the original authorization of $87 million approved by the voters on May 2, 2017.   The bonds are scheduled to sold by competitive offering on Monday, September 24, 2018.

The bonds are secured by a general obligation pledge of the school district,  payable as to both principal and interest from ad valorem taxes, which may be levied without limitation as to rate or amount.   the full, faith, credit and resources of the district are irrevocably pledged  for debt service as it becomes due.  The proceeds of the annual tax levy pledged to support the bonds are to be deposited in the bond and interest fund of the district and kept separate and apart from all other funds of the district.

Details on the purposes, tax-status, security, as well as other matters pertaining to these bonds can be found in the preliminary official statement, available on MuniOS.  Search under Unified School District No. 497 Douglas County, Kansas (Lawrence)

The school district primarily serves the city of Lawrence  and environs mostly in Douglas County, KS .  The estimated population of the District is about 100,000 persons.  It largely encompasses the  Lawrence Metropolitan Area. As of July 2018, the Lawrence CBSA metro area has an unadjusted unemployment rate of 3.8%, which is 0.1% lower than the U.S. rate in July, and the same rate as the unemployment rate as of July 2017.

You can find 10-year employment and labor force trends for all 50 states and each Metropolitan Statistical Area in the U.S. in our Employment Database, and more labor sector growth and compensation data on our Job Market page.

 

Featured Bond

The adjacent table (click to expand) is a quick snapshot of financial characteristics of Lawrence USD #497 as of 06/30/2017, compared with the 2016-2017 medians for other U.S. school districts, courtesy of Merritt Research Services, LLC.    Merritt has many of the sector medians publicly available and regularly updated on their Benchmark Central page. (Merritt believes the data to be reliable but does not make any representations as to its accuracy or completeness). In addition to the Merritt information related to the featured bond, more information can be found on our municipal bond calendar, city, state, and county pages, and our employment database. 

Certain common ratios used by the school district,  such as fund balance to expenses,  are not available in the accompanying table since the school district’s audit is presented based on state statutory requirements rather than those conforming to generally acceptable accounting practices required by the  Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

These facts and numbers are for informational purposes, and should not be considered an official disclosure for potential investors. Investors should consult the official statement. None of the information provided should be construed as a recommendation by MuniNet Guide, MuniNet LLC, Merritt Research Services LLC, or any of their employees. Information and analysis is for informational purposes only.