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Officials outline tax and fund-balance impacts of sportsplex bond
Summary
Board finance discussion estimated about a $0.25 rise in the tax rate in a worst-case scenario, reported the town has roughly $2.9 million in fund balance (about $2.5M accessible), and examined options to reduce debt service impact by applying reserves or making prepayments.
Town officials described how the board might fund the sportsplex work and the possible tax impact on local property owners.
A board finance speaker summarized the town's fiscal position: "we allocated $225,000 of fund balance" in the current budget and "we have $2,900,000 in our fund balance right now," of which roughly $2.5 million is accessible and about $500,000 is set aside for facility reserves. He estimated a worst-case tax-rate increase of about $0.25 if debt service were added without offsets.
Officials discussed options to reduce the borrowing need — including applying fund balance and paying down principal at issuance — and noted an existing debt service tied to the arena will come off the books in 2028 (about $54,000 a year). The board also discussed that certain bonds cannot be prepaid without penalty, limiting immediate payoff options.
The board did not finalize a specific tax-rate schedule at the meeting but directed staff to continue modeling scenarios and to post schedule updates and bond documents online.
