NEOSHO, Mo. — An area school district is taking advantage of low interest rates to save money.

The Neosho R-5 School District is hoping to save as much as $175,000 by refinancing Certificate’s of Participation.

Superintendent Dr. Jim Cummins says the interest rate on those certificates is lower now than when they were first issued back in 2018. He says money raised from the sale of those certificates was used on a number of projects to increase the energy efficiency of district buildings, as well as work on the Goodman school building.

“Be kind of like your home loan. If you had a 20-year home loan and you paid for five years and decided, wow, the interest rates have come down, I can save a lot of money, and you go and refinance it, and so essentially that is what a refunding is,” said Dr. Cummins.

Cummins says none of the money raised from the sale of the certificates went into the improvements made at the football field, the construction of the North End Zone Facility, or Performing Arts Center.