County of Franklin - Industrial Development Agency

Paul Smith's College Dormitory Project

In October 2007, the County of Franklin IDA approved $6,600,000 in bonds to fund the construction of two new dormitory buildings at Paul Smith’s College. The ground breaking ceremonies were featured in the local newspaper.

A Nine Million Dollar Tax-Exempt Bond Issuance allows Paul Smiths College to proceed with a needed Capital Project!

The Franklin County Industrial Development Agency secured $9.34 Million in tax-exempt bonds for the Paul Smiths College dormitory project. The IDA’s Authority – as a public benefit corporation – includes the ability to issue “civic-facility bonds” for certain non-profit entities. This ability provides substantial savings in the colleges’ cost of capital.

Mr. Jack Burke, Paul Smith’s College Chief Financial Officer – spoke laudatory at the Agency’s public hearing of the College’s past history with the Agency. Previous Civic Facility Bond Issuances were crucial to the forward momentum of the project. “A two point difference on $9 million makes the project doable (the project’s capital savings from the tax exempt bond) where as a conventional mortgage would not allow for this project to proceed,” noted Jack Burke.

The financial closing took place on the 30^th of June 2007. The dormitories are scheduled to be completed in August 2009 – Just in time for the academic year.

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