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Agency official says timing is right to hold Moorestown referendum
Summary
An agency official argued the timing for a referendum in Moorestown is favorable because retiring debt frees up borrowing capacity; the official said replacing old debt with new borrowing can mitigate costs to local taxpayers.
An agency official said now is the right time to put a referendum before Moorestown voters, arguing that falling long-term debt creates budget capacity for new borrowing tied to the measure.
The official used a household mortgage analogy to explain the point: "it's all about... we talked about the... mortgage thing — when you're paying off your mortgage... you have more money in your monthly budget to be able to spend on other things," the official said, linking that concept to municipal finances.
The official said the town's existing debt is "starting to come off the books," which presents an opportunity to replace retiring debt with new borrowing associated with the referendum. "This new debt will exceed our old debt but it won't be piled completely on top of it — it'll be replacing debt in many cases which mitigates the cost to the local taxpayers," the official said.
The speaker contrasted that outcome with a less favorable scenario: borrowing heavily while still midway through repaying older debt, which would drive higher monthly costs. In the excerpted discussion there was no formal motion, vote, or schedule for a referendum recorded.
The remarks focused on fiscal timing and budget capacity; no specific dollar amounts, proposed bond sizes, ordinance numbers, or dates for a referendum were provided in the portion of the transcript reviewed.
