The state's guarantee of a school district's bonds may enable that school district to obtain a higher rating for its bonds, which would enable the school district to sell its bonds at a lower interest rate, saving property taxpayers money on interest. This provision is needed to provide for a program to allow all school districts easy access to the bond markets through the backing of a statewide guarantee fund. This will help address the backlog of school building needs, a problem throughout the state.
Some school districts have difficulty passing bond elections for new facilities.
This amendment is an innovative, almost risk-free way for the state to help local property tax payers save money while promoting public education. Government is created to solve problems and this is a way the state can help with some innovative, forward thinking. Other states, including Utah, Wyoming and Oklahoma, have school bond guarantee programs that are working well. The amount of interest savings to a particular school district would be small compared to the cost of establishing this program. The cost and bureaucratic red tape of this program may not be worth the effort.