Capital Improvement Plan

Last week Tuesday, I voted against the proposed Capital Improvement Plan.  My primary areas of concern were:

• A proposed increase in the County's reliance on sales tax revenue for its regular operations.  Right now 40% of the revenue from the sales tax goes towards the county's operational expenses.  With this plan, in 2023 the company will increase that to 50%.
• I am concerned about the additional borrowing of $10 million in 2019 and $12 million in 2023.  Overall, the County is pretty responsible in its borrowing, but borrowing $22 million is concerning. 

While the plan passed, the borrowing will come before the board again, and at that time I'll be carefully scrutinizing the particulars.  There is a time and place for responsible borrowing---after all, most of us have mortgages on our house.  At the same time, $22 million in 5 years is a lot, and I am going to cautious before voting for any new borrowing.