Refunding Arkansas school bonds

Abstract

Debt adjustment is a procedure occasionally required in the administration of commercial and public organizations. In recent years the boards of directors of local public schools in Arkansas have undertaken the refunding of the bonded indebtedness of the schools. The fiscal independence of the local districts and the plans proposed by the various agents employed by them have led to a diversity of practices in school bond refunding. The purpose of this study is to investigate the circumstances and conditions which necessitated a readjustment of the bonded debt structure of the schools; to summarize and evaluate the procedures, techniques, and principles employed in refunding; and, if possible, to recommend sound procedures for the refunding of school bonds. The refunding plans of all Arkansas public school districts which have attempted to reorganize their bonded debt structures between January 1, 1931, and August 31, 1939, are included in this study. The bonded debt structure of the public schools is not the concern of the study except as the refunding of the indebtedness has involved an adjustment of the structure. The study is intended to examine all means of bond refunding available to the local districts under existing constitutional and statutory regulations. Data were secured from three sources: the statutes of the State of