One of the financial advisors for the Hamburg Area School District spoke at a school directors’ meeting on Sept. 8 to refute claims by the State Auditor General that the district lost about $4.4 million in a 2005 debt-swap deal.
Brad Remig of PFM Group spoke before public comments were allowed and called the Auditor General’s August report “one-sided and did not give the whole situation.”
In 2005 when school director’s were considering options to fund the $25 million Tilden Elementary Center building project, school directors agreed to a variable rate that was lower than the fixed-bond rate, according to Remig.
“Interest rates were historically low,” Remig said.
The Auditor General’s report stated that the district lost $2.05 million while the swap was in effect and $2.386 million when the district terminated the swap in 2011.
Superintendent Steven Keifer previously stated that the $2.05 million represented the district’s cost on interest on the debt to which the swap related under the Local Government Debt Act.
Remig said that the $2.386 million was not a termination fee, but the difference between the swap rate in 2005 and the lower rate in effect in 2011.
The swap was terminated in 2011 as the district prepared to finance an $18 million elementary school in Shoemakersville.
The Perry Elementary Center Dedicated to Esther H. Ludwig has not caused a large tax increase nor increased annual debt payments, Remig said.
Since the 2008-09, school year taxes have increased by an average of 1 percent or .25 mills.
During public comment, Gerald Haag, Perry Township, addressed the school directors, speaking on behalf of others.
“People are worried about paying their taxes,” Haag said. “They don’t have a big pension, some have no pension.”
“They are worried about losing their homes that they lived in for 40 or 50 years,” he said.
In other news, school directors learned that the district has received about $137,000 in a Ready To Learn block grant.
Dr. Elizabeth Lambi, director of curriculum, said plans include using $70,000 for supplemental instruction for Keystone exams and $32,000 to establish or expand STEM initiatives.
STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The district currently has a $130,000 accountability block grant that funds the full-day kindergarten program.
The next meeting of school directors is Monday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the James A. Gilmartin Community Room.