District Addresses Recent State Tax-exempt Bonds Announcement

The Cazenovia Central School District would like to clear up some confusion involving a recent
announcement made by Governor Hochul’s office. On Tuesday, June 25, the state released a
public announcement about $956.8 million in low-cost, tax-exempt bonds being issued through
the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) on behalf of 69 school districts,
including Cazenovia.

The Cazenovia Central School District received $13,010,000 through the program. A number of
community members have inquired about what that means for the district financially.
These are not new funds for the district. These are funds to pay back money that was borrowed
to pay for the construction of two building projects previously authorized by voters through
referendum votes.

They are very much like a mortgage on a home. You borrow money from a bank to build a
home and then pay it back over many years. Similarly the district borrows to perform a building
project and then sells serial bonds to pay it back over 15 years.
The DASNY model allows many school districts to work together in one large bond sale to
improve interest rates.

DASNY's current School Districts Revenue Bond Financing Program is designed to provide
public school districts across the state with an efficient financing alternative. The program
provides permanent, long-term, fixed-rate financing for districts to refinance short-term debt that
was already approved by taxpayers and used to fund capital projects.
The proceeds of the DASNY bond sale will pay off a short-term borrowing that took place during
construction and become a long-term borrowing that is paid back over 15 years.
If you have additional questions, please reach out to the business office.