Complete Document - City of Auburn

City of AuburnOverview of Debt Policy and Outstanding DebtLegal Debt LimitThe Code of Alabama establishes the legal debt limit for Alabama municipalities. The Stategovernment’s ceiling for municipal debt is 20% of the assessed value of property that is subject to advalorem taxation within the city limits. Excluded from the legal debt limit computation is debt payablefrom property assessments and debt issued for schools, waterworks and sewer systems.Computation of the legal debt margin for the City of Auburn at September 30, 2001, is as follows:Assessed value of property subject to taxation $339,151,500Debt Limit: Twenty percent of assessed valuation $ 67,830,300Amount of debt applicable to debt limit:Total bonded debt $78,366,373Other debt (accounts payable, etc.) 1,613,233Total debt 79,979,606Less: Exempt indebtedness 51,327,953Total amount of debt applicable to legal debt limit (42.24%) 28,651,653Legal debt margin (limit of additional debt capacity) $ 39,178,647This computation demonstrates that the City is well under the legal debt limit set by State law.Debt Per CapitaDebt per capita, or the amount of bonded debt per citizen, is a typical measurement of a government’sdebt status. Debt per capita is calculated using the U.S. Bureau of the Census population count,which is revised once every ten years. Auburn’s debt per capita statistics as of the end of fiscal years1994-2001 are shown below. These amounts were calculated using population estimates based onthe City’s 1990 and 2000 Census Bureau population counts.Net Bonded Debt per Capita, September 30, 1994-2001(includes debt issued by the City on behalf of the City Board of Education)Fiscal Year End 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001Population 37,494 38,410 39,326 40,242 41,158 42,074 42,990 43,906Debt per Capita $ 644 $ 586 $ 779 (1) $ 958 (2) $ 1,020 $ 1,144 $ 1,136 $ 1,057(1) The City issued $11,000,000 of G.O. school warrants on behalf of the Board of Education to finance theconstruction of two new schools. In fiscal year 2002, this debt was refunded.(2) The City issued debt to fund the construction of a sports complex. This capital project was approved by the voters ina public referendum and the Five Mill Tax fund will pay the debt service.Five Mill Tax Fund Debt IssuancesThe City's Five Mill Tax Fund receives property taxes that are earmarked by State law for therepayment of bonded debt issued to finance the construction of voted capital improvements. Recentdebt issues secured by this revenue source include:64