OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW
FY 2026
11. The County will maintain separate Solid Waste and Water Quality Funds. An annual evaluation of the user rates shall be performed through a cost-of-service model and necessary adjustments shall be made to reflect inflation, construction needs, bond covenants, and other factors.
DEBT POLICIES:
1. The County will prepare a multi-year capital program and update it annually.
2. No County debt can be authorized by the County Commissioners unless an appropriation has been included in the Capital Improvement Plan or until it has been modified through an approved budget adjustment.
3. Debt capacity shall be evaluated on an annual basis. The evaluation includes statistical measures and comparisons with peer group medians to determine debt affordability.
4. Debt for the Water Quality Funds cannot exceed 10 percent of the total assessed valuation of all the property in the County that is subject to County taxation during the County’s most recent fiscal year.
5. The County will not issue debt for periods exceeding the useful life or average useful lives of the project(s) to be financed.
6. Debt will not be issued to fund operating deficits. Net bond proceeds shall be used and applied exclusively and solely for the acquisition, construction, improvement, or development of public facilities for which the bonds are sold, in accordance with state law. 7. The County encourages the issuance of long-term, tax-exempt Revenue or General Obligation Bonds. Although circumstances may warrant from time to time the use of other debt instruments.
8. The County encourages competitive sale when seeking its annual capital funds, although other means are available.
9. The Department of Budget and Finance shall be responsible for establishing a solicitation and selection process for securing professional services that are required to develop and implement the County’s debt program.
10. Periodic reviews of all outstanding debt will be undertaken to determine refunding opportunities.
11. All investments and bond proceeds will be consistent with those authorized by existing State law and County investment policies.
12. The Department of Budget and Finance shall maintain a system of record keeping and reporting to meet the arbitrage compliance requirements of the Federal tax code.
2026 Budget Document
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