Burdened by expensive middle-school leases, Higley USD officials presented the governing board Nov. 16 a proposal to refinance those leases and save the district money.
Under the proposal, the district would save about $11 million over the remaining 30 years of the leases, about $365,000 annually, said Mike Lavallee, managing director of Stifel, an investment banking company working with the district.
The idea behind them is to cut out the lease owner, JMF-Higley, a nonprofit that receives the district’s payments, manages the property and pays the bank, in this case the Industrial Development Authority of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, a political subdivision of the state and the bond issuer.
