Belknap County executive committee approves up to $16 million tax anticipation borrowing for 2025

The Belknap County executive committee on an executive-session vote approved allowing the county to borrow up to $16,000,000 in anticipation of 2025 property-tax receipts.

County Treasurer (name not specified) told the committee, “what I'm asking from the executive committee today is your approval or your vote to, allow the county to borrow up to $16,000,000 in anticipation of taxes for 2025.” The treasurer said the initial borrowing will likely be smaller: “if you look out 6 months from February into August, you'll see that our needs by the end of August are somewhere around $9,000,000. So the initial borrowing that the county will do, in in sometime in February or early March will be to borrow around $9,000,000.”

The treasurer also outlined expected borrowing costs: “we anticipate interest rates to be somewhere between 4 a quarter and 4 3 quarters percent, similar to last year.” He described the county's annual practice: borrow in the spring to fund operations through the year and repay when municipal tax remittances arrive after bills are issued in October-November and paid in December. “Every year the borrowings are paid off in December of the same year,” he said.

Committee members pressed the treasurer on the basis for the $16 million cap. The treasurer said the request is guided by a six‑month cash‑flow projection and noted a prior November projection had estimated up to $17.5 million because of then‑available ARPA funds; with ARPA funds since distributed, the commissioners had authorized up to $16 million at that time.

The committee recorded the motion and voice vote approving the tax‑anticipation note authorization. The audio record shows the committee answered “Aye” on the call for votes and the chair stated the executive committee passed the $16,000,000 authorization; no roll‑call tally by name was recorded in the transcript.

Why it matters: tax anticipation borrowing is a routine cash‑management tool that lets Belknap County maintain operations between the start of the fiscal year and the receipt of property-tax payments from towns and cities. The committee’s action sets the legal authorization and maximum cap; staff said the county’s bond counsel will advise on final borrowing limits tied to the cash-flow projection.

Next steps: the treasurer said the county will proceed with an initial advance in late winter or early spring and return to the committee if additional borrowing becomes necessary later in the year.