Lawmakers will incorporate debt and bond limits in their budget-making process.
Lawmakers will incorporate debt and bond limits in their budget-making process.
The State Debt Policy Advisory Commission, in its annual report approved Thursday, says the state’s debt capacity has improved as a result of several factors. Among them are a recovering economy, which produces more for the tax-supported general fund, and a pay-down of previous debt.
But the report concludes: “While the commission projects that the state will have available debt capacity in the years to come, it notes that this debt capacity must be balanced against the considerable backlog of pressing capital projects and transportation improvements for which the state will need to tap the credit markets for funding.”
The recommended two-year ceilings are $974 million for general obligation debt, which is repaid through the tax-supported general fund, and around $200 million for lottery-backed bonds, although amounts are likely to drop for the latter in the future.
Read more at the Portland Tribune.
