The Mississippi Development Bank sold $42.5 million in bonds to finance upgrades to a public community college outside of Jackson, the state capital.
The bonds mature between 2025 and 2049, yielding between 3.16% and 4.18%. They received an insured rating of AA from S&P Global Ratings, which assigned an underlying rating of AA- and a negative outlook.
The bank will loan the bond proceeds to the Hinds Community College District, which has five campuses in the Jackson area. Its main campus is in Raymond, a town of less than two thousand people about 15 miles west of the state capital.
The issuance will go toward improving facilities in a district that has struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The district enrolled 12,462 students in 2023, a little more than half the 21,664 students that it enrolled in 2019.
“Those enrollment trends are troubling,” the bond documents read. Enrollment growth is a component of a state formula that determines appropriations to community colleges.
Hinds will use the proceeds to fund the construction of new buildings and the renovation of old ones, including a nursing school and wellness center.
The Mississippi legislature created the Mississippi Development Bank in 1986 to raise money, via bonds, to loan to local government units. The Hinds bonds are special obligations of the bank, secured by loan repayments from the community college district.
Raymond James & Associates, Inc served as underwriter on the issuance, purchasing the bonds for $45 million. The price reflected a premium of $3 million and a discount of $537,000. Municipal Advisors of Mississippi, Inc acted as financial advisor.