LEESBURG – Two scenarios were presented to the Leesburg Town Council Monday night on ways to finance making the town hall ADA compliant.

Jeff Rowe, of Umbaugh & Associates, presented both scenarios to the council. “These aren’t all the options, but just wanted to share with you some ideas for you to think about,” he said.

Until they really got into the town’s financials and see how much, if any, cash it has on hand to be able to apply toward the project, Rowe said, “We’re assuming that this would involve some type of financing.”

The first scenario looks at applying a certain level of cash and the rest of the project would be financed, with the second option assuming no cash will be applied toward the project at all.

The town’s general obligation debt limit – the maximum amount of tax-supported debt the state allows – is $116,210. The town doesn’t have any outstanding tax-supported debt or leases, which would reduce that figure if it did.



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“If you need to exceed that limit, there are other ways to go about it, which involves lease financing. That’s much more involved and more expensive so we’re looking to avoid that if we can,” Rowe said.

The low bid for the project was $142,000, which is the figure Rowe said they assumed in calculating the financial aspects of the project. Bond issuance cost of $25,000 was added in to cover Umbaugh’s fees for the issuance of the bonds, local legal and bond counsel fees. He said that’s pretty low for any bond issue.

The town would have to come up with $51,000 of cash on hand to pay for the project under scenario one and stay within that bonding capacity of $116,210, Rowe said.

If the town issues a general obligation bond for the $116,210, Rowe said they estimated the bond would be paid off in about five years at 3 percent interest, so the annual payment would be roughly $25,000.

If the town issues that debt, and wanted to pay for that bond strictly out of tax dollars that was outside the current levy, Rowe said it could establish a debt service tax rate used specifically for the repayment of that bond which wouldn’t affect the funds the town received from other tax-supported funds.

Based on the approximate $25,000 annual repayment, that debt service tax rate would be around 14 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The tax impact on a $75,000 home would be $23 a year; while the tax impact on the average Leesburg home, valued at $115,700, for the homeowner would be $60 a year.

If in looking at its annual budget the town council used funds from existing revenue sources, such as the economic development income tax fund or general fund, and they appropriate it for the following year’s debt service payment, then it wouldn’t have to levy the tax rate, Rowe explained. If for any reason those monies dry up, and the council can’t appropriate those monies, by law it would have to levy the debt service tax.

In scenario two, Rowe said the town would bond for the entire amount of the project. “What we would have to do is issue two series of bonds, and this all has to do with the debt limit,” Rowe said.

If the project totals $192,000 under this scenario, and the town’s debt limit is $116,210, he said bonding it would have to be split up in two series, with one bond issued through the town and one through a redevelopment commission. Since the town doesn’t have a redevelopment commission, the town would have to create one. The town and commission’s general obligation bonds would be $96,000 each.

“This would accomplish the project, pay for the project, without any cash on hand,” he said.

Council President Tom Moore said the project also would house the sewage department. He asked if sewage funds could be applied toward it. Rowe said if the “town had sufficient sewage works funds on hand to pay for a portion of the $51,000 or all of the $51,000, then, yes, you could use that money toward the project.”

Annual repayments on the bond issues would be $20,000 for the town and the redevelopment commission each over five years under scenario two. The tax rate impact for a home valued at an average of $115,700 would be $100 per year.

The council instructed Rowe to come back to its next meeting on March 12 with options and more in-depth information.

In other business, Street Commissioner Craig Charlton said parking on the streets between 3 and 5 a.m. has been a repeated problem at the same locations. The vehicles were tagged with the yellow ordinance reminder, dated and documented with a time and date stamped photo.

The areas of violation have been rental properties with inadequate parking for the tenants, he said. Violations of this nature hamper the efforts of snow removal in the winter months, as well as street sweeping during the summer, Charlton reported.

Moore asked if he’s had a conversation with those folks and Charlton said he has numerous times.

Councilman Doug Jones said the town ordinance is clear. If the town has made attempts to tell people, and Charlton has gone beyond what’s in the ordinance, if the issues continue then he should tell them of the consequences. Moore said if they’ve been told and warned, the only recourse is to have the vehicles towed.

“Given that they’ve been told and they’re not receiving it, the ordinance is very clear,” Jones said.

Finally, Charlton reminded residents that sidewalks are their responsibility and are to be cleared of snow per town ordinance.