8 a.m. Vote on Bond Recall from Sale of Old Zane School

Collingswood could save some $200,000 from its interest on debt repayments form the sale of the Old Zane School if the borough government approves a bond recall resolution Thursday morning.

Commissioners will hold a special meeting on the third floor of borough hall at 8 a.m. to authorize the bond redemption, which would spend the $800,000 raised from the sale of the property to pay off its debt eight years ahead of schedule, said Chief Financial Officer Bette Jo Pigliacelli.

"The debt that’s associated with the Zane School that’s outstanding at this time is callable," Pigliacelli said. 

The resolution could save at least $200,000 in interest payments from 2016-2023, by a conservative estimate, she said.

"We pay $100,000 on Oct. 1 of every year, so we’re going to pay off the last eight issuances," she said.

Collingswood will still pay about $10,000 to $12,000 in interest owed from October 1 to the day of the actual bond call, which Pigliacelli said will be in mid-December. 

The special meeting was necessary to expedite the process, she said, which is why the borough government didn't want to wait until its next regular meeting in November to authorize the action.

The sale of the property to architectural group Kitchen and Associates—and the 10-year PILOT tax deferral agreement accompanying it—sparked discussion about the use of such financial mechanisms in the borough and the value of the property within the community.

"This $800,000 sale will make us just $100,000 shy of recouping all of the $2.1 million that we invested into the rehabilitation of this property," Collingswood Mayor James Maley said in a video blog discussing the transaction last year.

"The borough looks at this project as one that helps our cash flow moving forward, that repays the debt that we borrowed to do this property; it works for us in every way," he said.