6.1. SR 12-06-2004
Item # 6.1.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Lori Johnson, Finance and Administrative Services Director
DATE: December 2, 2004
SUBJECT: Request by St. Andrews Catholic School to Issue Tax Exempt Bonds
Attached is a letter from Mr. Thomas Kaempffer, Parish Business Administrator of the Church of
St. Andrew, requesting that the city consider issuing tax exempt bonds for expansion of the St.
Andrew's school. The letter briefly outlines the project and the request for the city to issue up to
$1,500,000 of tax exempt bonds.
At this point, the only Council action requested is direction on whether or not staff should proceed
with this request. If the Council wants to pursue the issuance of tax exempt bonds for this project,
staff will work with the city's bond counsel to determine the project's eligibility; if the project is
determined to be eligible, this item will be brought back to the Council for formal authorization to
issue the bonds. As you know, tax exempt bonds may be issued only for certain uses and may not be
used to fund certain religious facilities. Mr. Kaempffer is currently in the process of providing
additional information so the bond counsel will be able to determine the eligibility of this project.
Mr. Kaempffer also understands and agreed that, according to the city's policy, the Church of St.
Andrew will be responsible for all of the city's bond counsel and other issuance costs on this project.
Finally, since the city does not anticipate issuing in excess of $10 million of debt in 2005, this does
not jeopardize the city's bank qualified starus. Further, this debt does not become an obligation of
the city.
Action Requested
The City Council is asked to provide direction on the Church of St. Andrew's request for the city's
issuance of up to $1, 500,000 of tax exempt bonds for expansion of its school.
s: \Council\Lori\2004 \standrewbonds.doc
t I
Church of Saint Andrew
November 29,2004
Ms. Lori Johnson, Finance Director
City of Elk River
13065 Orono Parkway, Box 490
Elk River, MN 55330
Dear Ms. Johnson,
The Church of 5t. Andrew, like the entire Elk River community, has been the subject of rapid growth in the
number of families we serve. Correspondingly, we have developed a long-range master plan to meet both
our current and anticipated future facility needs. The size of the plan requires that it be completed in phases
and we are planning to break ground on Phase One of the project in May/J une 2005 with substantial
completion in October/November 2005.
Scope of the Project
Phase One of the project includes the demolition of the existing school gym, basement cafeteria and kitchen
as well as the old church and power plant. The school will be retrofitted with a new HVAC system, the new
church and school will have sprinkler systems installed, and a new gym/parish center, cafeteria and kitchen
will be built along with supporting mechanical and storage space. The main entry to the school will be
remodeled to become handicapped-accessible. Finally, there will be a conference room that is convertible to
a nursery for use during Sunday worship services. These facilities will be constructed in a way that all
buildings with the exception of the current offices will form one contiguous facility.
Financing
The best available cost estimates for Phase One as of this writing is $3.7M. It is our understanding that a
portion/percentage of our project will qualify for funding through the use of tax-exempt municipal bonds. We
anticipate that a significant percentage of the costs of our kitchen, cafeteria, and gymnasium will qualify for
this funding. An initial cost estimate of these eligible portions would be in the $1.0M - $1.5M range. We are
currently in negotiations with several local banks to determine our best financing plan but it would seem to
include the purchase of the entire issuance by the lender whose proposal we accept.
Request
To accomplish our goals and plans listed above, the Church of 5t. Andrew is formally requesting that the City
of Elk River consider, and ultimately approve as more details are known, the issuance of these bonds for the
identified purpose and project.
;;J,i,ncereIY,
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Thomas J. Kaempffer .
Parish Business Administrator
cc: Fr. Joseph Korf
file
566 Fourth Street NW . Elk River, Minnesota 55330 . phone (763) 441-1433 . Fax (763) 441-1435