Conway council discusses 3/8-cent sales‑tax bond package, possible projects and repayment timeline

Council members in Conway spent the meeting’s first hour discussing whether to place a 3/8‑cent sales tax on the ballot to secure bonds for a slate of potential projects, how individual projects would appear to voters and how long bond repayments could run. The discussion matters because the council is considering pledging those tax receipts to repay bonds rather than using pay‑as‑you‑go funding, and because the package under consideration would add to the city’s existing debt commitments. Paul Phillips, senior managing director at Cruise and Associates, told the council the advisers had used a working assumption of about $95 million in projects to model a financing secured solely by the 3/8ths. “I’m senior managing director at Cruise and Associates,” Phillips said while outlining that scenario and the assumptions behind the repayment schedule. Under the modeling, Phillips said, a 30‑year schedule with the city’s projected receipts would likely be paid in about 19 years if receipts remain flat; growth in receipts would shorten the term. City finance staff and advisers walked the council through…