Harding University and Harding Place) Public Educational and Residential Housing Facilities Board Refunding and Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds Series 2020
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NEW ISSUE BOOK-ENTRY ONLY In the opinion of Bond Counsel, under existing law and assuming compliance with certain covenants, interest on the Series 2020 Bonds is excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes and is not an item of tax preference for purposes of the federal alternative minimum tax. Bond Counsel is also of the opinion that the Series 2020 Bonds are "qualified tax-exempt obligations" within the meaning of Section 265(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. In Bond Counsel’s further opinion, under existing law, the Series 2020 Bonds and interest thereon are exempt from all Arkansas state, county and municipal taxes. See the caption TAX EXEMPTION herein. $9,840,000 CITY OF SEARCY, ARKANSAS (HARDING UNIVERSITY AND HARDING PLACE) PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL AND RESIDENTIAL HOUSING FACILITIES BOARD REFUNDING AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT REVENUE BONDS SERIES 2020 Dated: Date of Delivery Due: October 1, as shown on the inside front cover The Series 2020 Bonds are special and limited obligations of the City of Searcy, Arkansas (Harding University and Harding Place) Public Educational and Residential Housing Facilities Board (the "Issuer"). Neither the general credit of the Issuer nor the general credit or the taxing power of the City of Searcy, Arkansas or the State of Arkansas or any other political subdivision thereof is pledged for the payment of the Series 2020 Bonds. The Series 2020 Bonds are payable from and secured by a pledge of certain revenues and other amounts to be received by the Issuer pursuant to a Loan Agreement and Security Agreement dated as of August 1, 1993, as amended and supplemented (the "Loan Agreement"), between the Issuer and Harding University, Inc., an Arkansas nonprofit corporation (the "Corporation"). The Series 2020 Bonds are issued and secured on a parity basis with the Issuer's $4,675,000 outstanding principal amount of Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 2017, having a final maturity date of October 1, 2029 and the Issuer's $7,140,000 outstanding principal amount of Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 2019, having a final maturity date of October 1, 2032. The Series 2020 Bonds are issuable as fully registered bonds and, when issued, will be registered in the name of Cede & Co., as nominee of The Depository Trust Company ("DTC"), New York, New York, to which principal and interest payments on the Series 2020 Bonds will be made so long as Cede & Co. is the registered owner of the Series 2020 Bonds. Individual purchases of the Series 2020 Bonds will be made only in book-entry form, in the denominations of $5,000 or any integral multiple thereof. Individual purchasers of the Series 2020 Bonds ("Beneficial Owners") will not receive physical delivery of bond certificates. Interest on the Series 2020 Bonds is payable semiannually on April 1 and October 1, commencing April 1, 2021. All such interest payments shall be payable to the person in whose name such Series 2020 Bonds are registered on the bond registration books maintained by BancorpSouth Bank, Stuttgart, Arkansas, as trustee, paying agent and bond registrar pursuant to an Indenture of Trust dated as of August 1, 1993, as amended and supplemented. Disbursement of such payments to DTC participants is the responsibility of DTC, and disbursement of such payments to Beneficial Owners is the responsibility of DTC participants or indirect participants, as more fully described herein. The Series 2020 Bonds will be subject to optional, extraordinary and mandatory sinking fund redemption prior to maturity, as more fully described herein. (FOR THE MATURITY SCHEDULE, SEE THE INSIDE FRONT COVER) The Series 2020 Bonds are offered when, as, and if issued and received by the Underwriter, subject to the approval of validity by Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP, Bond Counsel, and certain other conditions. Certain matters will be passed upon for the Corporation by Brett D. Watson, Attorney at Law, PLLC. It is expected that the Series 2020 Bonds will be available for delivery on or about December 22, 2020. The date of this Official Statement is November 26, 2020. MATURITY SCHEDULE $8,085,000 Serial Bonds Year Principal Interest (October 1) Amount Rate Yield 2021 $405,000 3.000% 0.800% 2022 500,000 3.000 0.900 2023 520,000 3.000 1.000 2024 535,000 3.000 1.150 2025 555,000 3.000 1.300 2026 570,000 2.000 1.450* 2027 580,000 2.000 1.600* 2028 590,000 2.000 1.750* 2029 605,000 2.000 1.900* 2030 620,000 2.000 2.050 2031 630,000 2.000 2.150 2032 645,000 2.125 2.250 2033 660,000 2.250 2.400 2034 670,000 3.000 2.500* $840,000 2.625% Term Bonds due October 1, 2037 to Yield 2.700% $915,000 3.000% Term Bonds due October 1, 2040 to Yield 2.750%* * Priced to first optional redemption date, April 1, 2026 No person is authorized to give any information or to make any representation not contained in this Official Statement, and any information not contained herein must not be relied upon as having been authorized by the City of Searcy, Arkansas (Harding University and Harding Place) Public Educational and Residential Housing Facilities Board, Harding University, Inc., or the Underwriter. This Official Statement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the Series 2020 Bonds by any person in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful for such person to make such offer, solicitation or sale. Neither the delivery of this Official Statement nor any sale hereunder shall under any circumstances create any implication that there has been no change in the affairs of the City of Searcy, Arkansas (Harding University and Harding Place) Public Educational and Residential Housing Facilities Board or Harding University, Inc. since the date hereof. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introductory Statement 1 The Series 2020 Bonds 3 Security for the Bonds 6 Special Considerations Related to COVID-19 7 Book-Entry Only System 11 Continuing Disclosure 13 The Issuer 14 Refunding Program 14 The Project 14 Sources and Uses of Funds 15 Summary of Enrollments and Student Revenues 15 The Corporation and University 16 Debt Service Requirements 26 Estimated Debt Service Coverage 27 Summary of Portions of the Loan Agreement 28 Summary of Portions of the Indenture 36 Summary of Portions of the Continuing Disclosure Agreement 40 Underwriting 46 Tax Exemption 46 Legal Matters 48 Experts 48 Miscellaneous 48 Appendix A — Definitions of Certain Terms A-1 Appendix B — Audited Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation for the Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 B-1 THE SERIES 2020 BONDS HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, NOR HAS THE INDENTURE BEEN QUALIFIED UNDER THE TRUST INDENTURE ACT OF 1939, AS AMENDED, IN RELIANCE UPON EXEMPTIONS CONTAINED IN SUCH ACTS. IN CONNECTION WITH THIS OFFERING, THE UNDERWRITER MAY OVERALLOT OR EFFECT TRANSACTIONS WHICH STABILIZE OR MAINTAIN THE MARKET PRICE OF THE SERIES 2020 BONDS AT A LEVEL ABOVE THAT WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE PREVAIL IN THE OPEN MARKET. SUCH STABILIZING, IF COMMENCED, MAY BE DISCONTINUED AT ANY TIME. OFFICIAL STATEMENT $9,840,000 CITY OF SEARCY, ARKANSAS (HARDING UNIVERSITY AND HARDING PLACE) PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL AND RESIDENTIAL HOUSING FACILITIES BOARD REFUNDING AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT REVENUE BONDS SERIES 2020 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT The following Introductory Statement is subject in all respects to the more complete information set forth in this Official Statement. All descriptions and summaries of documents hereinafter set forth are qualified in their entirety by reference to each document. This Official Statement, including the cover page and Appendices hereto, is furnished in connection with the issuance and sale of $9,840,000 principal amount of Refunding and Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds, Series 2020 (the "Series 2020 Bonds"), by the City of Searcy, Arkansas (Harding University and Harding Place) Public Educational and Residential Housing Facilities Board (the "Issuer"). The Issuer is a body politic and corporate and a public instrumentality of the City of Searcy, Arkansas (the "City"), organized and existing under the laws of the State of Arkansas (the "State") to finance, acquire, own, lease, contract concerning and dispose of educational facilities and residential housing and related facilities for elderly persons. The Series 2020 Bonds are being issued pursuant to the laws of the State, including particularly the Public Facilities Boards Act, Arkansas Code Annotated Sections 14-137-101 to -123 (Repl. 1998; Supp. 2019) (the "Act"), a resolution and ordinances of the City Council of the City, a resolution duly adopted by the Issuer, and an Indenture of Trust dated as of August 1, 1993 (the "Indenture"), between the Issuer and BancorpSouth Bank, in the City of Stuttgart, Arkansas, as trustee, paying agent and bond registrar (the "Trustee"), as supplemented by a First Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of February 1, 1995, a Second Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of June 1, 1995, a Third Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of January 1, 1996, a Fourth Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of September 1, 1998, a Fifth Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of December 1, 1998, a Sixth Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of September 1, 1999, a Seventh Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of June 1, 2001, an Eighth Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of December 1, 2002, a Ninth Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of December 1, 2003, a Tenth Supplemental Indenture of Trust dated as of April 1, 2005,