The current estimated cost of the 2018 Transylvania County General Obligation School Bond would be 10.5 cents. This would be an increase of .511 to .616 in the County’s base tax rate. It would take effect in FY2020 (July 1st, 2019). The 10.5 cent cost is estimated because we can currently only estimate the interest rate and the issuance costs of the bond sale at this time. Please see the attached supporting documents that have previously been developed by the County and its financial advisers to estimate this cost.
- Bond Supporting Documentation
- Presentation Slides from the October 9th, 2018 Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners
- Packet for the October 9th, 2018 presentation
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much interest?
- Approx. $29,000,000 based on current interest rate projections.
- Where did the old tax increase go?
- The tax rate has changed many times over the past twenty years - the current rate of $.511 per $100 is currently lower than the rate pre-1998, which was $.541 per $100. At the time of the FY1998 tax increase, ten cents was a necessary rate to pay the annual payment on the school bonds, the tax rate necessary to make these bond payments fell in 2003 and 2010 as the county's property values increase. The property tax rate was reduced in both of those years. As the 1998 and 1999 bonds reached maturity, the bond payments have been lower. The Board of County Commissioners appropriated increasingly larger amounts of property tax to increase the local operating budget of the Transylvania County Schools system.
- When will the tax increase need to take effect?
- July 1st, 2019
- How much will the tax increase be?
- We currently anticipate a 10.5 cent increase, from $.511 per $100 to $.616 per $100 of property value. Depending on the assessed value of a home or business, the tax impact may mean a different financial impact.
- What happens if the cost of these projects is more than 68,000,000?
- The Board of County Commissioners will need to decide how they want to pursue the remainder of the financing depending on the cost.
Other Questions
Please see the documentation from the school system below regarding the Bond Referendum. All this information was included in the County's application to the North Carolina Local Government Commission to allow the bond referendum to occur. Some of these documents are also visible on the Transylvania County School Bond website.
Agenda for Workshop-Joint Meeting with Board of Education
Agenda Memo - Workshop - Joint Meeting with Transylvania County Board of Education
Board of Commissioners 04/24/2017