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I am writing to update you on our progress in the bond program that you generously supported last year.

When the citizens of Victoria approved the issuance of $159 million in bonds last May, we moved into high gear on the projects. Financial adviser Anne Entreken from First Southwest quickly developed the package for the first sale. You may recall that when we first presented the bond package to the community, the plan was to spread the sale of the bonds over a three-year period to minimize the impact on the tax rate. The first bond sale was targeted at $75 million.

Thanks to market conditions last summer, we were able to market $100 million in bonds and still maintain the anticipated tax rate impact of less than 11 cents on the interest and sinking rate. Our true interest rate on that $100 million issue is 4.81 percent.

With $59 million in outstanding approved bonds, we went to the rating agencies in early April. Moody’s maintained our A1 rating. Standard and Poor’s upgraded our rating from A+ to AA-. Good news. Standard and Poor’s commented that the credit rating “reflects the District’s location in a regional economic and employment hub, which has provided continued economic stability; maintenance of very strong general fund reserves; and good financial management practices.”

You don’t hear stability and economic in the same phrase very often these days. This is a testament to the local community leaders, such as you, who have worked diligently to grow a solid and diversified economic base over the years.

Last week, we went to market on the remaining $59 million. As you know, the state of the economy is such that predicting what will happen in the financial markets from day to day is nearly impossible. In fact, predicting what can happen from hour to hour is difficult. We hit the market at apparently just the right moment and came away with a bond sale offering a true interest rate of 4.66 percent! Thanks to the expertise of First Southwest and a team of underwriters, VISD came away with the bargain of the day on the municipal bond index. With such a favorable rate, we will stay well within our anticipated overall tax impact projection of 20 cents.

The interest rate pleased me greatly, but, later, news that Anne Entreken shared with us pleased me more. We offered $59 million in bonds on the morning of April 16. The retail market had already bought in at about $25 million. Approximately $9 million of that investment was money from right here in Victoria. That is most gratifying to see the people of Victoria have placed such strong trust on the future of VISD. I promise: we’re a good investment.

We’ve moved quickly on the construction projects. At the end of summer, you’ll see significant work on all five new schools. We’ll award contracts May 22 on the elementary schools. We anticipate the contract award on the middle and high schools in June. We are feeling inflationary pressures and have gone over the construction plans with a magnifying glass and finely sharpened pencil. I feel confident our community will be proud of the schools we are building. I feel equally confident that we’ve taken every measure possible to be fiscally responsible in the construction of the schools.

These are exciting times in Victoria. Good things are happening in our schools, and even better things are on the horizon. Stay tuned.

Bob Moore is the superintendent of the Victoria school district.