RSA Advisors presents conservative $12.3M bonding example; advisor says district could see more capacity over time
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Summary
Municipal advisor Lincoln Thiner told the Bath County Board of Education that, under conservative assumptions, the district could borrow about $12.3 million today for a middle‑school project and that rolling forward revenues and state equalization could produce roughly $17 million of capacity in two years if the district holds spending steady.
Lincoln Thiner of RSA Advisors presented a municipal advisory engagement document and walked board members through a conservative analysis of Bath County’s borrowing capacity, comparing school‑district bond math to a household mortgage approach.
Thiner said the district’s near‑term debt service is roughly $1.65 million per year and that, using current assessed values, capital outlay rules, state equalization (Facilities Support Program and related streams), and conservative assumptions, a practicable borrowing example would show a $12.3 million principal amount as a conservative upper bound.
"I think the takeaway is just just know that this 12.3 is very conservative, at this point in time," Thiner told the board. He also said that routine recalculations of state equalization and rolling one year forward could add roughly $1.6 million in additional capacity on July 1 of a future fiscal year, and that — if the district did not spend new capacity — the total could grow toward the ballpark of $17 million in a two‑year horizon.
Thiner emphasized that the municipal advisory agreement before the board is a regulatory disclosure document obligating the advisor to act in the district’s best interest and to disclose conflicts; he said he had no conflicts to report. Board members asked questions about conservatism in the assumptions, how other incoming grants or projects would affect capacity, and Thiner offered to run alternate scenarios if the board gave target numbers.
No bond issuance was approved at the meeting; the presentation was informational and the advisory agreement was later approved by a separate voice vote.