Published Thursday, October 02, 2008

Development Authority to help with Trinity school bonds

By Jeff Bishop

The Times-Herald

The Coweta County Development Authority made a preliminary commitment Thursday to act as a conduit for $3,750,000 in bond financing for new construction for Trinity Christian School.

The school, which is a ministry of Trinity Fellowship Church, is at 8817 Highway 54, between Sharpsburg and Peachtree City.

Representatives from Regions Bank told the Development Authority the school is "too small for publicly-traded bond issues" and this arrangement is a means to take advantage of the school's tax-exempt status.

The financing will be used to construct new buildings for the school, which has about 700 students.

Mike Barber, chairman of the authority, emphasized there would be "no obligation" for either the authority or the county government to pay the debt.

"This is just a way for the school to get a tax-exempt loan," Barber said, and the loan will be repaid by the borrower.

Bill Harrison, president of the authority, said the money is "for the purpose of building a school -- not a church."

Authority members pointed out such financing has been used by local schools in the past, including Smokey Road Middle School and the Rutledge Center.

"It's fully within the provisions of our authorization," said Harrison. New construction at the school will mean new construction jobs and possibly new teaching positions in the future, banking officials pointed out.

Final approval of the financing will be brought before the board at some future date, most likely after the markets calm down, bank officials said.