Voters in Greenwood School District 50 in South Carolina will decide on Nov. 3 whether to let the district issue up to $175 million in general obligation bonds, one of several local borrowing measures on Nov. 3 ballots in the Carolinas.
The district’s board of trustees approved a resolution after its June meeting placing the referendum on the ballot. If voters approve, the bonds would pay for a new Benjamin E. Mays Elementary School and a new combined Lakeview-Pinecrest Elementary School, along with significant renovations and additions at Rice and Hodges elementary schools, according to the district. The package also covers safety and transportation improvements, athletic and arts facilities and modernized classrooms across the district.
No projected tax increase
District 50 says analysis by its financial advisers shows the borrowing can be handled without a tax increase. School officials have argued that the timing works because older bonds issued in the 2000s are being paid down, and Superintendent Shane Goodwin has said that waiting until that debt is fully retired could raise the cost of the same projects by as much as $100 million, HERE Greenwood reported after the district’s final community presentation on Monday at the Genesis Education Center.
General obligation bonds are repaid over time in line with state law and an approved financing plan, the district said. Bond proceeds can be used only for long-term facility improvements, not salaries or daily operating costs, the district said.
Timeline
Planning and design are already underway. The district expects construction to begin in 2027 and the projects to be finished by the 2028-29 school year, with work phased to limit disruption to students. Officials have pledged independent audits and public tracking of how the money is spent.
A busy week for local borrowing
Greenwood is not alone in asking voters for borrowing authority this fall. In Charlotte, N.C., three city bond questions on the same Nov. 3 ballot together seek $425 million for transportation, housing and neighborhood improvements. Approval in either place would give local governments permission to sell bonds later; the actual sales, and the interest rates they pay, would come once the borrowers go to market.
For investors in municipal debt, school referendums like Greenwood’s are a leading indicator of new supply. For residents, the question is simpler: whether to approve the projects now or wait. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, and the district has posted a sample ballot and renderings online. Local business coverage is available on the HERE Greenwood business page.
