The Kansas Board of Regents has adopted new financial rules that will make it easier to refinance outstanding bonds issued for capital improvements at the six state colleges and universities.
The new rule allows refinancing bonds to be issued with approval by two of the three top executives at the schools — the trustees chair, the vice chair, and the school president. The fast-track refinancing must provide net present-value savings of at least 3%.
The previous rules required refinancing bonds to be issued only upon approval of the regents.
Several schools said they lost refinancing opportunities because interest rates rose before the next scheduled regents meeting.
Theresa Gordzica, chief business and financial planning officer at the University of Kansas, told the regents the school saved $1.5 million through bond refinancing this year.
After approving the changes in policy, the board approved a plan by Kansas State University to refinance several series of bonds issued in the late 1990s.
