§ 2-574. Purpose for which debt may be issued.

The city will consider long-term financing for the acquisition, maintenance, replacement, or expansion of physical assets (including land) with a useful life of at least five (5) years. The repayment term of any debt should not exceed seventy (70) percent of the asset(s) estimated useful life. (Example: If the estimated use life of an asset is ten (10) years, the debt issuance for this item should not exceed seven (7) years.) In the situation of multiple assets being financed within one (1) debt issuance, an averaging of the multiple estimated useful lives and variable costs shall be considered by the city commission relating to the debt financing terms for both reasonableness and cost efficiency. The city normally will rely on internally generated funds and/or grants and contributions from other governments to finance its capital needs. Debt will be issued for a capital project only in the case of emergency or when it is an appropriate means to achieve a fair allocation of costs between current and future beneficiaries. Debt shall not, in general, be used for projects solely because insufficient funds are budgeted at the time of acquisition or construction.

(Ord. No. 2013-03, § 1, 2-5-13)