CROSSOVER REFUNDING

A local government's issuance of new municipal bonds (called refunding bonds) in which the proceeds of the refunding bonds are placed in escrow and used to make debt service payments on the refunding bonds until the call date of the original bonds. At that point, the refunding bond proceeds cross over and are used to pay the principal and the call premium, in order to extinguish the original bonds.

When 90 days or fewer are left in the original bonds' terms, the refunding is called "current". When more than 90 days remain, the refunding is called "advance". Alternatives to a crossover refunding include net cash refunding, which is more common, and full cash or gross refunding, which is less common.

A locality might decide to refund its bonds in order to get a better interest rate, to get better debt covenants or to obtain a better debt service schedule.