By Janine DavisRecord Staff WriterThe Warren County R-III School Board unanimously approved refinancing the district’s Series 2006 general obligation bonds — a move that could help finance future building enhancements and other needs.The decision allows the district to refinance or refund the remaining $10 million redeemable of “callable” portion of the school’s Series 2006 bonds to take advantage of lower interest rates.Refinancing maturing bonds — which carry an average interest rate of 4.75 percent and become callable at no penalty March 1 this year — offers an attractive option to help facilitate a potential larger no-tax bond issue in 2016, district officials said. The proposal was presented by Larry Hart of the district’s municipal bond underwriter L. J. Hart & Company of St. Louis.Refunding opportunities continue to improve with lower interest rates, Hart told the board.The refunding will help the district accrue additional savings in its debt service fund balances which would generate more spending power as it weighs a bond issue for 2016.R-III officials considered placing a $5 million no-tax-increase bond issue on the ballot this year, but elected to wait another year to give it more buying power and time to fully assess needs such as beefing up security at its buildings.“Refinancing the Series 2006 bonds gives the district about $1.5 million of savings in interest expense which helps facilitate a larger size bond issue,” Hart reported. “So a year later with a refund savings the district could pursue a $10 million new money bond issue.”The bonds fully mature at the end of the year, but with the risk of interest rates going up between now and then, the board voted to proceed with advance refunding in March to lock in the lower rate.Hart said the savings is about 93 percent of what the district could expect if it waited until the end of the year and if rates remain the same.Even a small rise in interest rates in the months ahead could wipe out the district’s gains, according to Hart.“It would only take an interest rate increase of two-tenths of a percent between now and December to eliminate the benefit of waiting,” Hart cautioned. “That’s not much of a rise.”The board has begun discussions with the district architects about plans to retrofit buildings with new entrance systems that would provide greater security for students and personnel. Combined with the addition of practice and general purpose space adjacent to the high school gym, the new security setup would cost in the neighborhood of $5.6 and $6.2 million.But R-III Superintendent Dr. Jim Chandler said a more thorough study of broader needs is warranted within the framework of the district’s long-range planning.Hart said that refinancing in January eliminates concern about fluctuations for planning purposes and still allows the district to capture a strong amount.“The main thing about refinancing is that it locks in what the savings are going to be and so you’re not guessing about what the market’s going to do between now and the end of the year,” Hart said.R-III district