The West Virginia School Building Authority has sold approximately $103 million in excess lottery revenue bonds, resulting in substantial funding to improve the state’s public school facilities. This is the first bond issue for ongoing funding of West Virginia’s public school infrastructure.

Gov. Joe Manchin said the state’s high bond rating and a strong and more efficient financing structure for the bonds resulted in an additional $7 million in construction proceeds from the bond sale. He says that means more money to build new schools or to improve existing facilities.

“Because of our continued responsible management of the state’s finances, including paying down long-term debt with surplus funds and keeping our rainy day fund well intact, we’re able to get more bang for our buck when we issue bonds,” says Manchin. “Investors now look at West Virginia as a stable investment because we’ve been careful with how we spend our money.”

Earlier this month, the School Building Authority received the “AAA” rating from Standard and Poor’s, the “A” rating from Fitch Ratings, and the “A2” rating from Moody’s Investor Service for its excess lottery revenue bonds, series 2008. The bonds mature from July 1, 2009 through July 1, 2028.

Out of the $103,398,888 in bond proceeds, about $28.5 million was sold to retail investors, almost all of whom live in West Virginia.

“The fact that a good portion of the retail investors actually are from West Virginia reflects the confidence our citizens have in the way we’re managing the state’s finances,” says Dr. Mark Manchin, director of the School Building Authority.