[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Malta 5-4-1998. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Town of Malta establishes the following
policy concerning the issue and management of debt:
A. The Town of Malta will not use long-term debt to finance
current operations.
B. The Town of Malta will utilize long-term borrowing
only for capital improvement projects that cannot be financed from
current revenue sources.
C. The total debt service of the Town of Malta will not
exceed 10% of the total operating budget of the Town of Malta for
any given year.
D. The total debt of the Town of Malta will not exceed
7% of the Town of Malta's average full value assessment of the last
five years.
E. The investment of capital funds is governed by state
statute, Town Code and town policy.
F. When the Town of Malta finances capital projects by
issuing debt, it will pay back the debt in a period not exceeding
the expected life of those projects.
G. The Town of Malta will seek to retire 50% of the total
principal outstanding within 10 years of the year of issuance.
H. The Town of Malta will seek level or declining debt
repayment schedules and will avoid issuing debt that provides for
balloon principal payments reserved at the end of the term of the
issue.
I. The Town of Malta will avoid overreliance on variable
debt due to the potential volatility of such instruments. Therefore,
the Town of Malta will avoid the use of variable-rate debt for its
general obligation bond issues.
J. The Town of Malta will maintain good communications
with bond rating agencies about its financial condition and will follow
a policy of full disclosure on every financial report and bond prospectus.