Public Finance

On June 28, Loop Capital Markets (“Firm”) served as Senior Manager for a combined $280,845,000 offering of tax-exempt General Obligation Bonds issued by Sacramento City Unified School District (“District”), comprised of $225,000,000 Election of 2020 (Measure H), 2022 Series A Bonds (New Money) and $55,845,000 Refunding Bonds, (collectively, “the Bonds”) rated A3 (negative) by Moody’s, AA by S&P (based on BAM insurance), and AA (stable) by Kroll, respectively.

The Refunding Bonds current refunded the District’s 2012 GO Refunding Bonds, and the Series A Bonds were the first drawdown of the District’s $750 million Measure H authorization.

The Firm worked closely with the District’s Municipal Advisor to tailor the amortization of the Series A Bonds to give the District maximum flexibility for subsequent drawdowns of Measure H, keeping a keen eye on the $60 tax rate indicated to voters under Measure H. Both Loop and the District’s Municipal Advisor recommended applying for a Kroll rating due to our agreement with Kroll’s rating methodology for California K-12 GO Bonds, which focuses on an issuer’s underlying tax base ($40 billion AV in the case of the District), the statutory framework supporting the imposition, collection, and administration of voter-approved unlimited ad valorem tax levies, as well as the statutory lien and oversight mechanisms provided by State law. Our banking team recommended using an 8-year call for the Series A New Money Bonds to sync up with the District’s 2021 Bonds, setting up a potential future “consolidated current refunding.”

Following the posting of the POS, our bankers held a “teach in” call with our sales force to explain the ratings differential and to emphasize the very strong underlying security. To focus our premarketing efforts, we mapped out the top holders of the District’s 2012 GO Refunding Bonds (who will be refunded out), as well as the top holders of the District’s outstanding GO Bonds. Our underwriting desk added a discount 4% coupon and two 5.50% coupon Terms in response to reverse inquiry from an “anchor” order. Our sales force generated over $1 billion in orders from 38 unique accounts, including 12 previous investors and 26 new accounts compared to the District’s June 2021 sale. At the final pricing, the Refunding Bonds generated $4.7 million of gross taxpayer savings, or $3.8 million present value (6.38%). In support of our price views, the syndicate underwrote $21.2 million bonds (approximately 8% of the loan).