Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle last week doled out $125.5 million of bonding authority to more than 50 school districts under the federal government’s new qualified school construction bond program and the expanded qualified zone academy bond program.
“These bonds will help money flow through our economy, supporting jobs, while helping Wisconsin schools repair, improve and build new facilities where needed,” Doyle said in a statement.
The Milwaukee Public Schools received $72.1 million. Other districts in the state applied for a share of the allocation through the state’s Department of Public Instruction.
Separately, Doyle on Monday designated $50 million in Midwestern disaster area bonding authority for counties impacted by severe weather in June and July of last year. They include Adams, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Ozaukee, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha and Winnebago.
The bonding program was included in the Heartland Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008. The tax-exempt qualified private activity bonds can be issued to finance qualified business projects. The list of qualified projects was expanded from previous law and the bonds must be issued before 2013.
Wisconsin received an allocation of more than $3.8 billion.
