The Fayette County School Board voted unanimously Monday to authorize the refinancing of the 1999 bond for which the school system owes $24.9 million. The board approved Morgan Keegan & Co.. The move will save approximately $1 million in interest.

“The refunding of these bonds will not have an effect on the general fund budget or the general fund millage, but will provide savings to taxpayers through reduced debt service,” said Audits & Financial Reporting Coordinator Tom Gray.

In mid-April, Gray said the school system owed $24.9 million on the original $56 million bond series from 1999, which was a re-funding of the 1994 bond. The remaining amount is callable, he said, and the school system wanted to see if the market might produce a lower interest rate.

The six-year time span for the bond debt service will not change, Gray said.

“Morgan Keegan was responsive to the scope of not only the bond re-funding but discussed in their proposal multiple alternatives related to the school system’s debt structure,” Comptroller Laura Brock said in an April 20 letter. “In addition, the reputation and professional qualifications of the firm’s staff is excellent and the firm has completed numerous bond financing transactions for school districts in Georgia over the last five years.”

Firms responding to the FRQ included BB&T Capital Markets, Merchants Capital, LLC, Morgan Keegan & Company, Sterne, Agee & Leach and Wachovia Securities.

The school system has a total of five bond series in place, totaling approximately $180 million. Bond series from 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007 and a capital lease financial instrument have been used largely for the construction of new schools, the renovation of existing schools and for technology, Gray said.