Commissioners rewrite Jefferson County’s debt

BROOKVILLE — The Jefferson County commissioners on Tuesday approved an ordinance to rewrite the county’s debt, which includes a bond issue and several loans that are currently on the books.

Jeff Lynch, chief financial consultant, said that they have a team in place.

“Basically what we’re doing is restructuring the 2012 bond issue, we have three other notes: 2015, 2015-B and 2016. The objective is to reduce the interest so our debt service payments will be lower going into the next few years,” Lynch said.

Joe Muscatelli, a member of the finance team, said the county received its rating call from Standard and Poors and was rated A-plus.

“The lower the interest rate, the lower the cost of municipal insurance,” Muscatelli said.

He said an A-plus has about a $25,000 difference in cost from an A-minus.

“What this insurance does is it guarantees the payment of the bonds,” he said.

Jack Matson, commission chairman, said this journey actually started 18 years ago when Jeff Pisarcik and his board of commissioners came into office.

“The county was not in very good financial condition, as they were $2 million in debt,” Matson said, adding that they cut spending, initiated wage freezes and made tough financial calls to put the current board of commissioners in the position to take advantage of that.

Matson said they set aside $2 million in what they called dead money to make it work again.

“$800,000 plus is equal to

one mil of taxes that we don’t have to raise,” Matson said. “When COVID-19 hit last year, we looked at it as an economic strain on our entire population.”

Matson said state budget’s often include unfunded mandates, which you have to set aside for certain services.

“That’s great because these are services that we need, and then they cut funding and the county is the last line of defense,” he said. “No one likes to raise taxes, and when they can, they kick it down the road to our level. We are mandated to balance our budget; we are mandated to run this county efficiently.”

Matson said they were able to get their bond rating up to AAA-plus.

“The last time we did financing, we were rated at A minus so that’s three positions ahead of where that was, and that gives us better buying power,” Matson said.

He added that they’ve built an extra $734,428.46 to pay for the anticipated unfunded mandates that come out of Harrisburg.

“I’m proud to tell you that this county is in good shape,” Matson said. “That’s why we made these decisions, just an effort to run this county the best that we can, and I know that we’ve done that.”

Commissioner Herb Bullers said they could’ve let it go as it was, but were able to make a decision this year that has economically helped the county.

A motion to pass the ordinance carried.

The commissioners also approved: • A motion to enter into a professional and administrative services agreement with North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission for them to administer COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program grant funds in the amount of $491,847 on behalf of the county and at no cost.

Pisarcik said they are in the early stages of this and do not anticipate starting until the middle of March.

“Keep looking on our website under announcements; you’ll be able to see this,” Pisarcik said.

Bullers asked if the money is for hospitality and restaurants.

Pisarcik said that it is, and like others who received COVID-19 money, they’ll have to fill out the application. The county will send it to be approved or rejected by North Central.

• A motion to appoint Jeff Ginther of Reynoldsville to the Jefferson County Housing Authority to fulfill the term created by the resignation of former Commissioner Paul Corbin.

• Invoices in the amount of $787,6445 for the period of Feb. 10 through Feb. 23, 2021

• Pending invoices in the amount of $825,980

• Actual gross payroll in the amount of $260,747.39 for the period Jan. 31 through Feb. 13.

• Tentative gross payroll in the amount of $258,490 for the period of Feb. 14 through Feb. 27.

The next Jefferson County Commission meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 9, at Jefferson Place.