Churchill County approves debt-management reports and five-year capital plans from county, Fallon, schools and water districts

Churchill County board members voted to approve debt-management plans and five-year capital improvement reports submitted by the county, the City of Fallon, the Churchill County School district and several local water and irrigation districts.

The submissions were made under Nevada statute NRS 350.0035, which requires local governments to file debt-management plans and related reports. Pam Moore confirmed the meeting agenda had been posted in accordance with statutes before the board began the item.

Sherry Weideman, Churchill County comptroller, gave an overview of the county’s revenue bonds and outstanding loans. She said the county’s combined outstanding balances for the listed revenue instruments totaled about $34,784,625 as of June 30, 2025, and described the county’s 2024 and 2025 principal-and-interest payments. “Our total interest for 2025 was approximately $940,000,” Weideman said, and she reported principal payments of about $1,400,000 for a cited 2025 total of $2,362,074. Weideman said the county’s jail and civic center bonds are revenue bonds tied to a 0.25 percent sales-tax infrastructure fund, federal Pelt (as stated in the packet) and geothermal revenues, and that other loans are tied to user fees.

Michael O’Neil, city clerk-treasurer for the City of Fallon, summarized Fallon’s indebtedness and capital plans. He said the city reported $15,229,350 in general obligation debt as of June 30, 2025, including $10,858,000 in medium-term obligations and $4,371,350 in revenue-supported general obligation debt. The city also reported $9,390,000 in revenue bonds, $29,330 in lease-purchase obligations and a combined total indebtedness of $24,297,682 as of June 30, 2025. O’Neil said the city issued $6 million in medium-term general obligation debt and $4,080,000 in revenue-supported general obligation debt in the prior fiscal year; the medium-term debt financed water, sewer, streets and park improvements. He listed planned capital work including city-hall improvements, a police patrol vehicle purchase, Lower Mills Park improvements, electrical infrastructure upgrades and equipment purchases for sewer, sanitation and landfill enterprise funds.

Terry Jolson, interim comptroller for Churchill County School District, and Superintendent Gerald Parsons presented the district’s submission. Jolson said the district’s outstanding debt as of June 2025 was $18,310,000 and that no new debt was issued in fiscal 2025. Jolson said all bond payments are made from the district’s debt-service fund, which is funded solely by property taxes, and that the fund’s ending balance equals 100% of the district’s fiscal 2026 debt payments. Jolson described recent capital work focused on student and staff safety—installation of safety glass and cameras—and listed recent projects and purchases including bus-yard paving, artificial turf at the high-school football field, roofing and HVAC repairs, one school bus and three replacement vans.

The board also noted receipt of indebtedness letters or reports from the Churchill County Mosquito Vector and Noxious Weed Abatement District, the Carson Water Subconservancy District, the Carson Tahoe Water Conservancy District and the Truckee Carson Irrigation District; those documents were included in the meeting packet and no questions were raised during the meeting.

A motion to “approve the plans as they were submitted” was made and seconded. The board voted in favor of the motion and approved the submitted debt-management reports and five-year capital-improvement plans.

After the vote the board moved on to general discussion and then adjourned.