CASPER, Wyo. — During its work session on Tuesday, the Casper City Council will discuss a staff proposal to apply for a loan to help fund repairs to the roof deck at the Casper Family Aquatic Center.
Staff are recommending the City of Casper apply for a capital construction loan from the State Loan and Investment Board to help cash flow the repair project, according to a memo from Casper Financial Services Director Jill Johnson. The city would repay the loan utilizing One Cent Optional Sales Tax No. 17 revenues.
City of Casper staff alerted the City Council to the need to address problems with the roof deck at the Casper Family Aquatic Center at a work session in summer 2022 amid the City Council’s talk of how to prioritize use of optional one-cent sales tax funding.
Up to $1,864,000 in One Cent No. 17 revenues could be used to pay for the Casper Family Aquatic Center roof repairs based on an allocation the City Council committed to via a resolution it passed in August 2022. After that resolution was passed, voters decided to renew the countywide four-year tax during the 2022 General Election.
While staff are recommending the city apply for a SLIB loan to cash flow the Aquatic Center repair project, there are several other options to fund it, according to Johnson’s memo:
1. The 1%17 funding for the 1st year is estimated to provide $5,444,250 in revenue. Council
could direct staff to make the Aquatics Center Roof project a priority and defund other
critical projects. Projects which could be defunded include Street Repairs $1,816,667,2. Project Safe $1,002,000, Community Assistance Programs $564,333, Police and Fire $458,333 and $317,083, Water and Sewer Projects $866,667, Building MaintenanceVehicles and Trails Projects $15,000 and $50,000, Bus Service $166,667, and Non-profit Support $187,500.
3. Investments could be liquidated to provide funding for this project now and be replaced
over the next 4 years as the funds are received from 1%17 until the balance was repaid.
The most recent investment performance report shows a yield to maturity of 4.51%. If
fixed income bonds were to be liquidated, the City would realize a loss on selling bonds
in addition to a reduction of investment income. Assuming the funds would be returned
to investments at the end of each year after the 1% was collected, the lost revenue from
investments at 4.51% would be approximately $126,100.4. The State Land and Investment Board offers a Capital Construction Loan Program for
which this project would qualify. The loan is from 5 to 25 years and the interest rate is
adjusted for a longer term. As the collections for the 1% are over the next 4 years, the
loan term for this project would be 5 years. The interest rate would be 1% and there
would be a one-time origination fee of 0.5%. The origination fee would be $9,320,
payments would be $384,059 and interest over the life of the loan would be $56,291.
The payments are due annually and would be funded from the 1%17 allocation. The
1%17 will cover the principal and anticipated budget savings from the design, estimated
to be approximately $100,000, will cover the interest and the origination fee.
In addition to talking about how to finance the Casper Family Aquatic Center roof repairs, the City Council will also talk about its annual liquor license renewals during Tuesday’s work session. The Casper Police Department conducts sting operations on an annual basis and the number of businesses with liquor law compliance failures jumped to 25 in 2022, up from 15 in 2021, according to a memo from Casper Police Chief Keith McPheeters.
Only one of the 25 businesses that failed compliance checks had more than one failure during 2022. Three of the businesses failed a compliance check in both 2021 and 2022, the memo added.
The work session on Tuesday will also include discussion of ways to increase revenues at the Casper Municipal Golf Course. The work session agenda also allocates time for an informational presentation regarding the Casper-Natrona County Health Department. There is also slated to be discussion of topics the City Council would like the Wyoming Legislature to take up as interim topics for its 2024 Budget Session.
Further information is available in the City Council’s work packet for the work session:
The work session can be viewed via the City of Casper YouTube channel:
