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Summerville council approves up to $47.5 million in bonds for municipal facilities, adds emergency dispatch function
Summary
The council approved amended installment-purchase revenue bonds not exceeding $47,500,000 to fund municipal facilities including a public-safety complex and emergency dispatch; one councilmember voted no citing the absence of a debt-service reserve fund.
Summerville’s Town Council approved an amended ordinance authorizing Somerville Municipal Facilities Corporation to issue installment-purchase revenue bonds not to exceed $47,500,000 to finance the design, construction and equipping of municipal facilities, including an added emergency dispatch function.
Bond counsel Theodore DuBose of Anwar Singler Boyd read amendments at the meeting that added emergency dispatch functions to the facility description, corrected language about council consent for assignments, and named three directors of the municipal facilities corporation: Scott Slatten (ex officio, town administrator), Rita Berry and Montez Aiken. DuBose explained the structure to the council: these are not general-obligation bonds of the town but obligations of the nonprofit corporation that will enable the municipality to lease the finished facilities back from the corporation.
Council members discussed financing details and fiscal exposure. A town staff member summarized revenue options available to make semiannual appropriation payments, including the general fund, licenses and taxes, tax increment financing (TIF) revenues and impact fees. The transcript records an estimate of semiannual payments “somewhere between $3,000,000 and $3,700,000,” and staff confirmed no debt-service reserve fund has been set up for this financing.
Councilmember Johnson Wilson said she would oppose the ordinance because of the size of the debt and the lack of a reserve. “I am gonna vote no just because the debt is substantial, and it is concerning for me with... not having a... reserve fund for that debt set up,” she said. After discussion, the council approved second and final reading by voice vote; Johnson Wilson recorded a nay.
Mayor Russ Touchberry noted the council’s intent not to increase taxes in association with the debt at this time, and staff reiterated that future councils retain budget authority under state law. The ordinance as amended authorizes the bonds and related instruments and allows the town to enter lease and other financing documents with the municipal facilities corporation.
The council’s vote completes approval to proceed with the bond financing; staff and bond counsel indicated next steps include closing logistics and implementing the amended provisions for the municipal facilities corporation.
