First QSCBs on the Way

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley Friday announced the allocation of the first half of $236 million of qualified school construction bonds to help 46 school systems that applied to the program to finance the construction or repair of public school buildings.

The debt will be sold on behalf of the districts by the Alabama Public School and College Authority to save money on issuing costs and annual payments.

“The ability of the state to sell bonds for all school systems at once was brought about by a bill adopted in the special session of the Legislature earlier this year,” state superintendent of education Joe Morton said in a news release. “It gets the money to the systems quicker and at less cost than all 46 systems trying to individually do this — it’s a win-win situation for Alabama.”

Alabama received a $236 million QSCB allocation from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law Feb. 17. The state is expected to announce the remaining recipients in early 2010.

In addition to the statewide allocation, three large school districts received direct QSCB allocations for 2009. The Birmingham City School District received $15.7 million, the Mobile County School District received $23.1 million, and the Montgomery County School District received $11.42 million.

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Alabama
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