Lake Washington School District Refinances Bonds

Lake Washington School District Refinances Bonds
Taxpayers Save $5.15 Million 

Redmond, Wash. - On June 16, 2026, Lake Washington School District (LWSD) sold a total of $93.45 million of tax-exempt refunding bonds, which will refinance $97.29 million of its existing debt, to take advantage of lower market interest rates. The bonds will refund the District’s Unlimited tax general obligation (UTGO) bonds originally issued in August 2016. Interest rates averaged 3.07% on the new bonds compared to 4.0% on the old debt. The refinancing will save the District’s taxpayers more than $5.15 million over the next nine years.

The finance team included D.A. Davison, our lead underwriter, who has worked with the district on bond sales for many years; our independent financial advisor, Northwest Municipal Advisor; and was supported by district bond legal counsel from Pacifica Law Group.

Dr. Jon Holmen, Superintendent, said, “Two specific values stated in our Strategic Framework are Collaborative Engagement and Accountability & Integrity. We believe it is our responsibility to strengthen our partnership and increase trust with our community by identifying opportunities such as bond refunding which is a direct savings to taxpayers. The partnership with our community is essential to accomplish our goals of providing exceptional experiences for each learner.” 

Moody’s assigned an underlying rating of ‘Aa1’ to the District’s UTGO and LGO Bonds.  This rating has only been assigned to four Washington school districts: Lake Washington, Issaquah, Snoqualmie Valley and White River. This high credit rating is the result of our district’s proactive fiscal management history and practices. They also allow the district to take advantage of lower interest rates when bonds are sold.

Moody’s cited the following positive credit factors supporting the District’s ratings:

• very strong management team
• vibrant local economy with solid population growth;
• robust resident income and wealth indicators;
• strong local support for public education

The Refunding Bonds also carry an enhanced rating of “Aaa” from Moody’s because the bonds were sold using the State School District Credit Enhancement Program.

The very strong credit ratings on the District’s bonds can be credited with attracting investor interest in purchasing the bonds, contributing to the debt service savings to taxpayers.

Barbara Posthumus, Associate Superintendent of Business and Support Services, said, “It is our goal to prudently manage the resources our community has entrusted us with, and refinancing debt at lower interest rates has helped achieve that goal. This is the fourth refunding we have completed since 2015. The combined savings to taxpayers from these refunding bond issues exceeds $48.0 million.”

If you have an interest in learning more about the bonds, please contact the District for additional information.

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About Lake Washington: Lake Washington School District is a high-performing public school district serving Kirkland, Redmond, and Sammamish, Washington. It is the second largest district in the state of Washington, with over 30,000 students in 55 schools.