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County staff lay out bond options and potential tax impact as supervisors weigh timing
Summary
County administration outlined three bond/financing options for roughly $70 million in projects and showed how timing affects debt service and the mill rate; supervisors asked for debt‑timing curves and scenarios to compare the cost of combining issues versus splitting them.
Administrator Ken walked supervisors through three financing strategies for the county's large capital needs: (a) authorize and proceed as planned with a combined authorization for up to $70 million, (b) authorize up to $70 million but delay sale and phase projects so debt payments begin later, or (c) split the projects into separate bond issues. Ken said the combined package would raise the county levy from the current level (2.595 cited at the meeting) toward roughly $2.87 in the first instance described, and framed that as about a $110 per‑year increase on a $400,000 home.
"The county levy currently at 2.595, would go up to $2.87. So that's 27.5¢," Ken said while explaining how the timing of bond sales affects annual debt service. He recommended option b (one authorization with delayed sale/structured timing) to avoid additional issuance costs and to give staff reassurance that the projects are authorized.
Several supervisors asked for concrete debt‑timing graphs to compare options and to see what changes would be needed to continue the county's multi‑year trend of lowering the mill rate; Chair Fiddler and others asked staff to model scenarios that would preserve the county's long run fiscal posture while taking on major capital obligations.
Next steps: Ken agreed to provide debt‑timing curves and mill‑rate scenarios at a future administration committee meeting, and to return to the board with options that show the tax impact of the various timing choices.
