Policy #1 Long Term Debt
1.5% Within policy
Policy #2 Annual Debt Payments
3.1% Within policy
Annual general fund debt service payments shall not exceed 4% of net general fund operating revenue.
Results: Debt service has remained well below the city's 4% benchmark, with 2027 debt payments expected to continue at 3.1% of general fund revenue. Going forward, the city's current debt payments will decline by 2–3% annually until 2044, when the first Consentino School construction bond retires.
The city recently issued $20,470,000 in tax-exempt general obligation debt with a true interest cost (TIC) of 3.34%, supported by the city's AA bond rating, which was recently reaffirmed by S&P Global. The debt financed the replacement turf field at the stadium, improvements to the drainage on Locke Street, upgrades to two water booster pumping stations, and engineering costs for constructing a new drinking water source. This new debt is included in the debt payment listed below and in the total outstanding debt shown on the previous page.
Policy #3 Retiring Debt
59% Below floor
65% of all debt shall retire at the end of 10 years.
Results: The city is not currently on track to achieve this financial benchmark. At the end of 10 years, the city will have retired 59% of its current outstanding debt. However, because borrowing costs have declined significantly over the past several years, extending debt over longer periods has become less costly. In addition, while this approach differs from the philosophy of rapidly declining debt, aligning the repayment period with the useful life of the asset is considered a prudent fiscal practice.