Fulton Schools Pays Off $135M Bond Approved 2-Decades Ago

FULTON COUNTY, GA — At its work session on Tuesday, the Fulton County School System celebrated a major milestone in its financial history.

“As of Jan. 1, Fulton County Schools has paid off a $135.2 million bond secured in 1998," Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef said. "This is our final outstanding general obligation bond backed by the FCS property tax digest.”

Dereef then presented each school board member with a framed copy of the “Paid in Full” notice, each adorned with shiny pennies.

“We thank Fulton County voters for supporting our SPLOST [Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax] program over the years,” School Board President Julia Bernath said. “In each 5-year SPLOST, funds were earmarked to pay off debt so that Fulton County property owners do not face an additional burden through their school taxes. Our millage rate has been the lowest in metro Atlanta for 11 consecutive years, largely because we have not needed to raise millage to pay off bond debt.”

In the 1990s, when the bond was authorized, Georgia school boards had limited options to fund a long-range plan for building new schools or providing for other needed improvements. A board could raise the millage rate; it could reduce expenditures, or it could ask voters to approve a special bond referendum as a long-term loan.

“Every time someone spends money in Fulton County – whether by shopping, buying gas, or eating at a restaurant, for example – one penny of every dollar goes toward the future of our students,” Dereef said. “Those pennies add up, and today they represent millions of dollars.”

That changed in 1996 when the Georgia Legislature broadened the SPLOST law to allow school systems to collect for capital outlay projects, and the following year Fulton County Schools successfully asked voters to approve its first five-year SPLOST. Since that time, SPLOST has become the district’s primary funding source for new school construction, additions and renovations, technology innovations, transportation upgrades, and safety improvements.

“The ‘pay-as-you-go’ nature of SPLOST has proven beneficial to taxpayers since bonds are long-term loans that must be repaid with interest,” Bernath said. “We thank our community for approving SPLOST so there is a way to pay off debt with limited impact on our taxpayers.”