Editor’s Note: The following letter was written by Nassau County Clerk John Crawford to Board Chairman Danny Leeper and Commissioners on November 14, 2013 objecting to the commission considering a lease purchase option to fund construction of the Sheriff’s Administration Building. A copy of the letter was provided to the Fernandina Observer from Shannon L. Shaw, General Counsel, Public Information Officer at the request of Mr. Crawford.
The County Commission is exploring all options for funding construction. No decision has been made on the funding source.
Dear Chairman Leeper and Commissioners:
‘”Get out of debt, stay out of debt, pay as you go!” As Comptroller, I continue to recommend this approach as one of the necessary tenets of achieving financial sustainability over the long haul.
The purpose of my letter to you today is to encourage you to stay on the path of reducing debt while meeting capital spending needs on a pay as you go basis. On April 29th, the Board voted unanimously, absent Commissioner Steve Kelley, to set aside $10 million cash for the construction of the Sheriff’s administration building. The money is in the bank and ready for disbursement for this project. By your vote on April 29th, you told the taxpayers that you intended to take that cash and get this project done. There is no need to burden taxpayers by creating additional debt to complete this project.
It appears that instead of adhering to the practice of avoiding debt, the Board is considering creating debt (lease-purchase) for the Sheriff’s administration building. If you choose to use debt rather than adhering to a pay as you go strategy, you will increase your government fund debt by at least 25%, and that is before taking into account the costs of the lease-purchase structure. Your own independent study by Pizzuti concluded that this is the most expensive method of financing. They also stated, “This could be perceived as going around the public process.” And a final negative aspect to this structure is ” . . .quality could suffer . . .”
Also, Fitch recently reaffirmed the county’s A+ rating based on part upon the county’s statement that the County will not be issuing any new debt in the near future. Make no mistake, this lease-purchase method of funding, is debt.
All the good that has been accomplished for the taxpayers by reducing debt these past nine years gets thrown in reverse the moment you take on new debt! It is my strong recommendation to not use a lease-purchase strategy, and pay for this project with the cash you have already set aside for this purpose instead.
Please let me know if I can assist you in navigating this issue.”
Sincerely,
John A. Crawford
November 14, 2013 10:09 p.m.
We Need mre John Crawfords….everywhere! Thank You!