08/20/2018- Addressing Marinette County’s nearly $32-million of debt is no small task for County Administrator John Lefebvre, but a new plan presented to the Administrative Committee could make repayment more manageable. A discussion was held last week on the impact the satisfaction of debt when it becomes callable will have on the county’s investment funds. Lefebvre laid out a proposed debt repayment schedule through 2026 and says if the county makes additional principal payments and allocates the county’s sales tax revenue and debt service levy to those payments each year, the county will only have to draw money from their unrestricted funds in 2020 and 2021. While this would mean the county would have to find another funding source for capital improvement, Lefebvre says reserving the debt service levy for CIP purposes will leave them nearly a million dollars short each year, which would ultimately have to come from the county’s investment funds. He adds the plan is subject to change depending on the overall state of the economy.
Lefebvre’s estimates were based on the assumptions of a steady growth of sales tax and debt service tax revenue of 1.5%  annually. The committee took no action following the discussion.