Commissioners pay off millions

The Board of Carbon County Commissioners announced today that it will pay off approximately $9.6 million in debt related to the Courthouse and Carbon Building Improvement Project. The project, which renovated the two buildings was partially paid for using $18 million in specific purpose tax funds, otherwise known as the 6^th penny tax funds that were passed by the voters in May of 2019. That left approximately $10 million the county financed with NBH Bank to complete the remodels.

In October 2022 the county accepted $8,789,400 from the US Department of Treasury’s Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) which was subsequently paid to the county over a two-year period, fiscal years 2022 and 2023. LATCF funds are part of the American Rescue Plan from the Covid pandemic for eligible counties nationwide and the commissioners opted to utilize this for revenue replacement for the county making it eligible to pay off the loan.

The Board unanimously voted today to use LATCF along with the interest accrued on the fund and a small amount of general fund money to pay off the debt incurred by the county. County Commissioner Chair Sue Jones stated “We are thankful to the county’s voters for passing the 2019 specific purpose tax which made our building remodels possible and even more proud to be able to present the beautifully renovated buildings to the citizens debt free. Paying off this debt will free up over $700,000 annually in the county’s general fund budget that would have otherwise been used for debt service on the loan through 2041”.

The specific purpose tax that helped pay for this project was originally estimated to be paid off in 15- 16 years and is approximately 44% paid in just 4 years.