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Stevi bank to issue no-interest bond
by SEPP JANNOTTA - Ravalli Republic

Score one for the home team.

At a time of much national discussion over the merits of smaller, more local banks, a Bitterroot Valley branch of Rocky Mountain Bank has won over the hearts of folks at the Stevensville School District.

Stevensville schools officials announced Tuesday that Rocky Mountain Bank’s Stevensville branch had agreed to issue the district’s $8.8 million dollar facilities construction bond at zero percent interest, which an excited Superintendent Kent Kultgen said will save Stevensville taxpayers $1.8 million over the life of the loan.

“It’s unbelievable news,” Kultgen said. “It’s fantastic.”

The building bond will help the district replace the 1901 junior high and 1927 grades four to six buildings with a 25-classroom, state-of-the-art facility for fourth through eighth graders.

Despite the no-interest terms, the bank will turn a profit on the loan thanks to a federal program that will give financiers tax credits worth more than 6 percent of the loan’s total.

Jeff Fuller, president of the Stevensville branch of Rocky Mountain Bank, said the deal was good for the bank and a good way to make good on its philosophy of partnering with local projects that build community.

“We felt like it was the right thing to do,” Fuller said. “And we are absolutely thrilled about the new project and about having an opportunity to partner with the school and to have a hand in the financing that provides a new facility for the students.”

Kultgen said the deal, which is pending the negotiation of routine details, will be finalized on March 9, at which time the district will have an additional $8.8 million in its bank account.

Putting that money to use is a process that is already well underway, Kultgen said, with the school board reviewing applications from architects and preparing to break ground in June.

A second bond for $860,000 aimed at building a music and multipurpose/food service facility was turned down by voters in the Stevensville High School district.

To make up for the lost bond, the district has applied for a construction grant from Montana’s quality schools grant program.

If the grant request is accepted - word will come April 1 - Kultgen said the board is ready to put an architect right to work incorporating that building into the Stevensville campus construction plans.

In the meantime, Kultgen said he is glad to have Rocky Mountain Bank on the schools’ team.

“The neat thing is Rocky Mountain Bank approached us and said they wanted to partner with the school to get this done,” Kultgen said. “It just blew us out of the water.”

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