Road repairs and maintenance are always high on the list of items that people care about when asked.  That's why most local government agencies spend so much time and money on the upkeep of their roadways.

That effort to keep up with maintenance is the reason behind a recent vote by the Douglas County Board.  At their meeting on September 15, the Board voted to approve borrowing $7.5 million in funding to be used for highway repairs over the next three years.

WIth the $7.5 million, Douglas County will be able to keep up with the variety of repairs and maintenance encountered on the roads they're tasked to maintain. In total, Douglas County is responsible for about 355 miles of county roadway and 412 lane-miles of State roadway under its jurisdiction.

Planning details shared in the Superior Telegram [paywall] share that this isn't new territory for the county. In fact, the budget is constructed to plan for and depend upon the borrowed funding.  Kevin Mullen - with Robert W. Baird and Company explains:

"This is kind of an ongoing borrowing process that the county has embarked on probably for the last five or six years.  We've tailored your debt service to maintain steady payments for projects as they generally occur."

Because Douglas County maintains a high bond rating (Aa2), they're able to obtain the borrowed funds at a much lower interest rate than the general market provides.

County officials don't expect that the $7.5 million in new borrowed funds will have an impact on the current tax levy.  In fact, "the county's debt service tax levy [is] anticipated to drop from almost $4.3 million to $3.1 million and [see] growth" over the three year term of the loan.

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