One of the objections to my plan to reduce the proposed 2024 tax levy increase by $1,500,000 has been the assertion that we need to consider an overall long term debt repayment and debt levy policy before we approve any reduction in the debt levy.
Of course, one of the reasons for raising this issue is that the discussion will take months and will be used in an attempt to delay the decision on reducing the proposed tax increase beyond this budget year.
I have developed and am offering the following long term debt repayment and debt levy plan for consideration by the Board. The plan includes the $1,500,000 increase in the 2024 sales tax contribution as outlined in my draft resolution. It also includes using proceeds from the sale of vacated buildings in line with the resolution proposed by Supervisor Marshall.
The debt repayment plan features an annual decrease in the sales tax contribution to debt service to free up more funding each year for County operations. It also features a very modest annual increase in the debt levy through 2031. After 2031 all of the County’s existing debt should be paid through debt levy as long as the NCHC can pay their agreed upon portion of their debt.
While I don’t necessarily expect the Board to debate and approve this long term debt repayment and debt levy plan prior to our November 9th budget meeting, the document below demonstrates that developing a plan should be readily achievable. Lack of a debt repayment and debt levy plan should be no reason to delay moving forward with reducing the proposed 2024 debt levy increase by $1,500,000.