Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen has announced that the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of Education has allocated $9,576,000 in qualified school construction bonds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
“This is great news for the territory,” said Delegate Christensen. “In addition to providing low-cost borrowing to build and upgrade schools, the projects funded by the Recovery Act school construction bonds will create jobs and build modern schools that will prepare our children for the global economy of the future.”
Qualified school construction bonds can be used to finance the construction, rehabilitation or repair of a public school facility, or for the acquisition of land where a school will be built.
Created by ARRA, qualified school construction bonds help state and local governments obtain low-cost financing for much needed public school improvements and construction. Investors who buy these bonds receive federal income tax credits at prescribed tax credit rates in lieu of interest. These tax credit bonds essentially allow state and local governments to borrow without incurring interest costs.
The U.S.departments of Treasury and Education announced earlier this week over $11 billion in allocation authority to issue qualified school construction bonds across the country and U.S. territories.