Carbondale work session reviews options for financing major capital projects; sales tax increases, COPs, bonds and TIFs discussed

Town finance staff and municipal advisors presented multiple financing options for Carbondale's larger capital priorities at a work session on April 15, flagging trade-offs between voter‑approved tax measures, borrowing that uses town assets as collateral and using existing fund balance or dedicated revenue to pay debt service.

Finance director Greg (last name not specified in the record) opened the session and said staff wanted trustees to answer three basic questions before committing to any path: how much money is needed, when the funds are required, and how the town will pay debt service. Maddie Brdanovic of Hilltop Securities joined by video and explained commonly used tools: general obligation (GO) bonds (property-tax backed, require voter approval), revenue bonds (backed by sales or other revenues), limited-tax bonds, excise-tax revenue bonds (lodging, marijuana, short-term rentals, food & beverage), and certificates of participation (COPs), which do not require voter approval but use leased assets as collateral.

Key figures and assumptions presented (all drawn from the town's presentation and Hilltop): - Town 2025 assessed value: about $248,000,000; current mill levy ~2.094 mills. Each additional mill at current assessed value generates roughly $250,000/year. - Current town sales tax rate: 3.5%, producing roughly $9.5 million in annual collections; each 1% of sales tax is estimated to…