Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
8 <br /> The County maintains excellent bond ratings. <br /> S&P -AAA <br /> Fitch - AAA <br /> Moody's -Aa1 positive outlook <br /> The anticipated issuance of general obligation bonds will be for two of the County's largest <br /> projects — a New County Jail Facility and Middle School #5 for the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City <br /> School Districts total a combined $73.2 million dollars and both projects are included in the <br /> current County Capital Investment Plan for the fiscal years 2015 - 2020. <br /> An additional project that has been discussed is Elementary #8 for Orange County Schools, but <br /> this project is not scheduled until FY 2021-2022. <br /> County staff along with representatives of Davenport and Company, LLC presented information <br /> on the County's debt affordability and capacity as for future debt issuances recently in a joint <br /> meeting with both School Boards. Based on the County's current financial position, and in <br /> order to afford the additional debt, the County would potentially have to increase the property <br /> tax rate 2.82 cents for the new debt service. <br /> This projected tax increase would not include any future other operating expenditure increases <br /> and/or any future operating expenditure increases related directly to the new facilities and <br /> schools being built. <br /> The Board of County Commissioners has commenced preliminary discussions and will be <br /> starting finalize its decisions regarding the potential bond referendum in the near future. <br /> There will be a financial impact in future years as decisions are made to proceed with bond <br /> referendum and issuing debt for future County and School projects. All projects that are being <br /> considered are currently in the County's Capital Investment Plan. <br /> It is currently expected that projects totaling $100 million will be financed with the issuance of <br /> general obligation or limited obligation bonds over a period not to exceed 20 years. At current <br /> municipal bond interest rates, the total combined debt service is estimated to be $6.7 million <br /> annually. This would represent 4.18 cents on the current property tax rate. <br /> No Attachments <br /> FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no direct financial impact associated with discussion of these <br /> topics. There are no action items requiring formal decisions. <br /> RECOMMENDATION(S): The Managers recommend the governing boards discuss the topics <br /> listed and provide appropriate direction to the respective staffs. <br />