On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, Siebert Williams Shank served as book-running senior manager for Cedar Hill Independent School District’s $243,400,000 Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds, Series 2024 issuance.

Proceeds from the sale of the Bonds will be used for (1) the construction, acquisition, renovation, improvement and equipment of school buildings, including equipment used for school safety and security purposes, for the purchase of necessary sites for District facilities, and for the purchase of new school buses, (2) the acquisition, improvement, equipment and update of technology, and (3) to pay the costs associated with the issuance of the Bonds.

The new issue negotiated calendar was moderate with $5.8 bn slated for the week. Of note, nearly $1.3 bn of supply came from Texas transactions with CHISD as the largest Texas ISD transaction.

Up to pricing, MMD rates decreased, including the day prior to pricing witnessing a 3 basis points (bps) decrease in year 2025 and unchanged MMD rates from 2026-2054. On the day of pricing, the market witnessed MMD decreases by 4 basis points on 2025-26 maturities.

On the day of pricing, Fed Chair Powell gave testimony to the House Financial Services Committee. During that testimony, the Fed Chair Powell remarked that while inflation remained above the Fed's 2% target, it was improving. In addition, he stated that the economy was no longer "overheated" and seemed to be "fully back in balance." However, he added that the Fed needs "greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent" before reducing the target for the federal funds rate.

During premarketing, investors fielded SWS bankers with questions about the District’s enrollment projections. Despite the District receiving an updated press release from Moody’s the day prior to pricing that revised the District’s Aa3 underlying rating from a stable to negative outlook, investors continued to hold a strong appetite for the District’s paper.

On the day of pricing, the market tone continued to rally, allowing SWS to seize this momentum and enter the market early ahead of mid-day MMD reads and market news.

The SWS led syndicate generated over $1.55 billion in orders from 67 investors, of which 64 investors were non-current holders of the District’s bonds. Overall, the bonds were 6.3x oversubscribed with oversubscription in every maturity. Due to the strong order book, SWS suggested yield reductions between 2-12 bps in all but one maturity.