Thanks in part to putting off capital improvements, the Warren County Commissioners haven't raised taxes for eight years.
Improvements will have to be made some day, according to Fiscal Director Toby Rohlin, but they may not require tax increases.
There is a 1.5-mill debt service tax in the county. The county's capital improvement bonds are paid off from that tax. The tax rate was set to raise the right amount of funds to pay the debt.
Financing for the 2003 addition to the courthouse was the last capital improvement debt taken on by the county, according to Rohlin.
Over the years, the county has been able to refinance the debt, gaining better rates without extending the term of the debt, Rohlin said.
"These bonds have been refinanced a number of times," he said. "Every time we roll these over we save a big block of money."
The latest refinancing was completed in 2011 and it will save the county $414,785 on its debt.
Previous refinancing resulted in savings of about $900,000, Rohlin told the commissioners on Wednesday.
"Now we're talking about $1.3 million," he said.
The county owes about $5.16 million and will have that debt paid off in 2019.
If the county continues to bring in the projected revenue from the tax, that will leave $1.3 million in the debt service fund after the final balloon payments are made.
Rohlin said representatives of auditing firm Drescher and Malecki suggested that the county create a capital reserve.
Although not bearing that name, the debt service fund could serve that purpose. Because the tax was implemented to raise money for capital improvements, Rohlin said using what's left of it for other capital improvements would be an allowable expenditure.