STONE HARBOR – At the Feb. 21 Stone Harbor Borough Council meeting, Chief Financial Officer James Craft gave a report on the current capital budget for 2023. The report is part of the overall 2023 budget process, and things can change by the time a budget is formally adopted in the spring.
If they don’t, the capital budget outlined by Craft for the council would see a total of $6.2 million in borough projects, requiring a bond issue of about $4 million.
The water and sewer utility had an additional $4.3 million in projects, almost all of which would have to be covered with a bond. In the case of water and sewer utility debt, the fund source for repayment is the user fees paid by each household.
Adding $4 million in new capital projects to the existing, currently unfunded capital projects that have already passed council review would probably result in the need for an almost $18 million bond.
According to Craft, moving forward to bond for that capital plan and the $18 million in unfunded projects would result in a rise in debt service of as much as $1.7 million per year.
A Herald analysis in 2022 showed that Stone Harbor already has the highest percentage of its total general fund revenue going for debt service in the county.
