School district refinances Bonita Canyon bonds

Bonita Canyon residents can expect to save an average of $337 a year in property taxes, thanks to the school district refinancing nearly $40 million in bonds.

Newport-Mesa Unified refinanced the bonds last week, Deputy Supt. and Chief Business Official Paul Reed announced Tuesday night.

The school district re-funded — a process comparable to refinancing — the 1998 Bonita Canyon Community Facilities District bonds to reduce the Newport Beach neighborhood’s property taxes for the next 10 years, Reed said.

“We saved the taxpayers $2.4 million by doing this,” he said Wednesday.

Affected by the change are the property owners of the Newport Bluffs Apartment Village and Bordeaux Apartment Homes, and Bonita Canyon Homes and Newport Ridge Homes, according to the preliminary official statement issued on the re-funding.

The original $45-million bond was sold by the Bonita Canyon Community Facilities District, a special district formed by a joint powers agreement between the school district and Newport Beach.

The bonds were used to buy and develop the Bonita Canyon Sports Park, create a “loop road” at Newport Coast Elementary School, and make improvements to the parking lot at Corona del Mar High School.

Over the last decade, the district has been waiting for the right market conditions, and they finally came together Jan. 4, Reed said.

“It didn’t make sense up until now,” he said.

The trustees were pleased to hear the news at Tuesday’s meeting. School board Vice President Dana Black called it good modeling.

“Once again, another reason to be proud of our district,” she said.

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Twitter: @britneyjbarnes