The Habersham County animal shelter is another step closer to reality as commissioners approve a funding mechanism to pay for the project.
The SPLOST approved project has received a lot of attention over the last year without much movement towards actual construction.
SEE ALSO: New Habersham animal shelter moves forward: Groundbreaking set for early spring
Commissioners received an updated presentation from the county’s financial advisors during its regular meeting on Monday. Davenport & Company presented to the commission the results from the request for proposals received from financial institutions that responded.
Financing
The county requested to borrow $6,850,000 for the animal shelter project. The guidelines for the loan was for the note to be set for a term not to exceed 10 years, have an interest rate of 5% or less, and must allow the county to pay off the loan early.
Seven financial institutions responded to the RFP. The lowest bid for the project came from PNC Bank with an interest rate of 3.64%. The loan offers provisions for early payoff. Should the county pay off the loan on or after July 2030, the pay off amount will be 102% of the outstanding amount. If the county pays off the loan amount on or after July 2032, the pay off amount will be 101% of the outstanding loan amount. If the loan is paid off on or after July 2034, the outstanding loan amount will be paid in full with no additional penalty or no discount applied.
Prior to approving the loan, the commission held a public hearing to receive public input about the financing options.
Taxpayer impact
No one spoke in favor or opposed to the loan. However, Dale Green of Clarkesville asked a question about the impact on taxpayers for the financing of the facility. “So taxpayers will have to pay every bit of it or will any money come back from the animal control center, fines or anything like that to help pay for it?” he asked.
Interim County Manager Tim Sims answered the question. “We are having an excess of SPLOST funds right now with the way sales tax receipts are coming in,” he said. “We are anticipating that most of that repayment will be from that sales tax collection.”
Commissioner Bruce Harkness added, “The voters of Habersham voted to build this animal control shelter using sales tax dollars not property tax dollars,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing as we’re trying to build this thing with sales tax dollars called a SPLOST and not property tax dollars.”
Green reminded the commission that just four years ago the voters had turned down a SPLOST to maintain roads and bridges that everybody uses. He couldn’t understand why the commission was spending $8 million to build an animal shelter.
SEE RELATED: Citizens press HabCo Commission to build animal shelter
“I wished you had been here about six months ago,” Harkness responded. “This room was packed with people here wanting this thing built yesterday and demanding a few of our scalps.” He added, “There is a great percentage of the county wanting this project.”
The commission approved moving forward with the financing of the animal shelter project unanimously with a 3-0 vote. Not in attendance for the meeting were Commission Chairman Jimmy Tench and Commissioner Ty Akins. Tench was absent due to an illness and Akins did not attend due to the birth of a grandchild.
