Agenda - 11-19-2013 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 1 the current schools cannot be maintained. She said there are serious issues, and there needs 2 to be criteria and a long range plan to evaluate these older schools. 3 4 Michael Talbert said the current outstanding debt is $190 million, and these proposals 5 would double that debt in a short period of time. He said there are limits to what can be done, 6 and the debt has to grow in proportion to the budget and the population. He said a 25 year plan 7 is not realistic, as things will change. He said the two projects that started the discussion are 8 both in the CIP. He said this discussion is about adding additional projects and there will have 9 to be some give and take, as the County cannot afford to do it all. 10 Chair Coffey clarified that the County will do the first two items without a bond 11 referendum but these projects will be debt financed. 12 Michael Talbert said yes. 13 Chair Jacobs said financing a jail through existing mechanisms is better than a bond. 14 He said the County will need to be strategic in this process. 15 Chair Jacobs said reports from the boards should be back by April, and the options can 16 be laid out and compared. 17 Chair Jacobs said both school systems wanted to put this before everyone to see the 18 task that lies ahead. 19 20 5. Possible Bond Issuance for November 2014 21 22 Clarence Grier said dates were discussed at the collaboration meeting, and May 2014 23 was too soon. He said the focus is on November 2014, and the amount discussed was $100 24 million. He said the two projects total $76 million, which leaves $24 million left for other debt 25 issuance. 26 He said the latest possible date would be November 2016. 27 Chair Jacobs said there is no assumption; the Board is just getting information on the 28 bond process. 29 Commissioner Gordon said the Board has not had a general discussion of this, and 30 there needs to be clarification that all that is being discussed tonight is the possibility of a bond 31 issuance. 32 Chair Brownstein clarified that the mention of November 2016 was in the context of the 33 jail. She asked if the date piece is still fluid. She said there will be a sense of urgency as more 34 details come forth about level of need. She said 2016 is too late to address school needs. 35 Clarence Grier said staff will start prioritizing issues now, but no decisions are made yet. 36 Bob Jessup said there is a formal timeline to get a referendum called. He said there are 37 formal steps that must be taken by Board of County Commissioners in January for a May 38 referendum, and in June for a November referendum. 39 He said the second issue is that a bond referendum must happen on a regular election 40 day. He said the voters vote once, but the money is borrowed and issued over a multi-year 41 period. 42 He said the last point is that the voters vote on separate generic questions regarding 43 specific dollar amounts for separate generic projects. He said it is up to Board of County 44 Commissioners to determine when that money is borrowed and what specific projects it is used 45 for. He noted that priorities may evolve over time and use of the dollars may be changed. 46 He said there would be one figure proposed to cover both schools 47 Commissioner Gordon referred to Bob Jessup's comment regarding priorities and 48 money usage changing after a bond referendum was passed. She said the County has always 49 estimated funding per project and spent the money on those projects. She has always felt that 50 the Board of County Commissioners had an obligation to follow through on what was proposed. 51 She asked for more information on this issue.