BY DANIEL SCHMIDT | THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — The Auburn City Council voted Tuesday to authorize more than $241.8 million in debt for construction of a second public high school and other school facilities, giving final approval to the largest single financing in the city’s ongoing school-building program.
The approval clears the way for more than $241.8 million in general obligation warrants, with proceeds earmarked for Plains High School, which is expected to open in fall 2028.
The funding will also cover site work and buildings for a new public junior high school, athletic facilities, land, equipment and other school infrastructure across the city.
Auburn City Schools, one of Alabama’s largest school districts, has for years pointed to sustained population growth as the reason Auburn High School could no longer keep pace.
Since 2017, when Auburn High School opened its $72 million E. Samford Avenue campus, the city’s population has climbed from an estimated 64,000 residents to nearly 87,000 in 2026.
City finance staff did not wait for Tuesday’s vote to test the market.
The warrants were sold on July 22 in a transaction the Finance Department described as successful, locking in an all-in true interest cost of 4.52%. The warrants carry interest rates ranging from 4.5% to 5.25% and mature in stages from June 1, 2027, through June 1, 2056.
The Frazer Lanier Company, located in Montgomery, served as underwriter and bought the issue for nearly $255.3 million. That price reflects the $241.8 million face amount, reduced by an underwriting discount of $798,072 and boosted by roughly $14.2 million in net original issue premiums.
After the underwriter’s discount, the plan directs about $214.6 million into a 2026 Capital Improvements Account for construction and issuance costs, while roughly $40.6 million goes to an escrow fund handled by Regions Bank.
That escrow money is tied to a second piece of the deal: refinancing part of the city’s 2015 school bonds.
Taking advantage of the current interest-rate environment, the city is calling for redemption on Sept. 11 of the portions of its Series 2015 bonds maturing between 2027 and 2040. According to a memo from Finance Director and Treasurer Allison Edge to City Manager Megan McGowen Crouch, the refunding component is expected to save the city about $2.4 million.
Tuesday’s vote was the last formal step in a process that has unfolded across nearly two years.
The council approved reimbursement resolutions in February 2025 and this past May that let site preparation and construction begin before the debt was issued, and in June authorized city officials to sign a bond purchase agreement in the event the council approved the measure.
The ordinance was drafted by bond attorney Rod Kanter of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP of Birmingham.
Regions Bank will act as registrar, transfer agent and paying agent for the warrants, which will be issued in book-entry form through The Depository Trust Company and dated Aug. 12.
Interest payments to bondholders begin Dec. 1 and continue each June and December, with the debt pledged against the full faith and credit of the city.
With the ordinance adopted, the sale can close as scheduled, allowing the proceeds to flow into the school construction account.
Officials have characterized the borrowing as a budgeted expense and part of the school system’s broader facilities master plan, which the district has said is being financed without a tax increase.
In other business, the council:
- Approved a restaurant retail liquor license for Amanecer, which is doing business as Amanecer Morning Kitchen, at 820 Opelika Road.
- Approved the FY2027 Rebuild Alabama Act transportation plan.
- Renewed a $65,426 contract with Granicus for Swagit live-streaming and captioning of public meetings.
- Approved a $55,055 contract with SHI International Corp for three Juniper Networks switches, support and maintenance.
- Accepted public rights-of-way and easements from Broadview Properties in the Cherokee Road Subdivision near the terminus of Cherokee Road.
- Accepted public easements and rights-of-way from Dilworth Development for Cole Place, Phase One, on Society Hill Road north of the Mitchell Farms development.
- Accepted rights-of-way and utility and drainage easements from Flowers & White Engineering for The Preserve, Phase 6C, off West Farmville Road.
- Accepted public easements from The Mark of Auburn for The Mark of Auburn Subdivision between Toomer Street and Wright Street.
- Accepted public rights-of-way and easements from Foresite Group for The Orchard at Wrights Mill final plat, located at 1640 Wrights Mill Road.
- Accepted public utility easements from Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers for the Goodwill Industries Subdivision at 2040 S. College St.
- Accepted drainage and utility easements from Morningview Properties for the Reese Subdivision final plat at 406 N. Donahue Drive.
- Appointed election officials for the 2026 municipal election.
- Concurred with Industrial Development Board actions to sell property on Evans Court and to purchase property at 1715 Pumphrey Ave.
- Approved a $179,256 tax abatement for Inics Battery Solutions Corp., located at 2585 Innovation Drive. The company is expected to hire 30 new employees over the next three years and invest $2.95 million.
- Approved a $4.27 million tax abatement for Seohan Auto USA Corp., located at 3100 Haygood Court. The company is expected to hire 92 new employees over the next three years and invest roughly $63.6 million.
- Approved an $841,740 contract with Davenport Group for a Dell PowerScale APEX subscription.
