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Rockbridge County’s financial adviser provided an overview to the Board of Supervisors last week of the feasibility of borrowing up to $23 million for a couple of upcoming major capital projects.
The county is making plans to embark on a renovation/expansion of Floyd S. Kay Career and Technical Education Center and to build a new government services facility that would house Rockbridge Area Department of Social Services and, potentially, other government agencies. The former has a price tag of $9 million and the latter is preliminarily estimated to cost about $14 million.
R.T. Taylor of Davenport & Company reported to the supervisors Feb. 27 that the county is making annual payments of $6.5 million on existing debt, which is equivalent to approximately 22.8 cents on the real estate tax rate. As these debt payments decline in future years, Taylor offered different scenarios in which new debt could be incurred by “capturing the decline” so that future annual debt payments could remain roughly what they are now.
According to Davenport’s annual report on the county’s finances, as presented by Taylor, “the county is in good position to afford its capital needs.” Because of its “conservative budgeting practices,” the county has “ample capacity to fund the identified projects with respect to its financial policy guidelines and industry best practices.” Even with taking on this proposed new debt, the report explains, the county would still be well below its policy limits for debt-to-assessed values ratio and debt service-to-expenditures ratio.
The price tag for what’s referred to in the report as the “new human services building” – the planned new facility for RADSS and other entities – would likely be considerably less for the county than the upfront estimate of $14 million. Buena Vista and Lexington would be responsible for paying their share of the debt. The county would also potentially receive rental payments from other tenants. RADSS would reimburse the county for depreciation on the facility in lieu of rental payments, in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the localities and RADSS.
County staff has indicated that there may be federal or state grants available, such as funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and American Recovery Plan Act, to further offset the amount of money that needs to be borrowed.
The planned new RADSS building is to be located behind the Food Lion in Buena Vista, at the intersection of U.S. 60 and Va. 608.
