Experts are telling the Avonworth School Board to act now to secure financing for the the construction of an $18 million primary center.

What began as an attempt to take advantage of lower interest rates to refinance two current bond issues has blossomed to include the nearly $16 million Avonworth still needs to build the new school.

At its work session on Tuesday, the Avonworth School Board met with representatives of PNC Capital Markets and bond counsel to discuss not only the refinancing of the district's 2001 and 2003 bond issues, but the issuance of new financing for the planned construction project.

An architect is still in the preliminary stages of designing a primary center proposed to alleviate overcrowding at Avonworth Elementary School. PNC representative Tony Miniti, however, told the board that due to low interest rates, the market is the best that it has been in a long time for tax exempt bonds, and no one knows how long these conditions will last.

When the board votes next Monday to authorize the refinancing of the current bonds, members also will be asked to authorize PNC to secure funds for the primary center construction. Director of fiscal management Brad Waters said that preliminary approval of a new bond issue next week will not become final approval until the board actually gives final approval to the primary center construction.

The resolution to be considered next week basically would enable the board to move quickly to obtain financing once the building project is approved, allowing the district to take advantage of the current market conditions.

An additional consideration, according to Waters, is that the district has set a goal of having the primary center built within the next three years. In order to meet this goal, the decision to construct the new building is going to have to be made soon, he said.

Based on the architect's preliminary work, PNC was given an estimated figure of $18 million for the cost of the primary center project. Waters noted that Avonjworth has saved some $500,000 per year for the last four years to put toward the construction.

That $2 million capital fund could be augmented by the savings the district expects to realize by refinancing the current bonds. Miniti estimated that Avonworth will save about $650,000 in the refinancing. According to Waters, the district is likely to take these savings as soon as possible, rather than spacing the savings out over time. The estimated savings also could be used for other projects, such as installing new air conditioning in the school buildings or improving the football field and track, or used to reduce taxes in a future year.

The Avonworth School District will be mailing information regarding the new financing for the primary center to residents next week. Bond counsel is drafting a proposed resolution to be voted upon by the board at its regular meeting next Monday.