Raleigh County Commissioners have authorized the issuance of lease revenue bonds to provide financing for the new sheriff’s department.
During the Tuesday, July 6 commission meeting, Attorney Roger Hunter said he has been working with the Raleigh County Building Commission to issue $6.5 million in lease revenue bonds for the new Raleigh County Sheriff’s building, soon to be located in the Beckley Pinecrest Industrial Park.
“This will provide a major part of the permanent financing,” Hunter said of the bonds.
First Community Bank will buy all of the bonds at 2.49 percent on a 15 year maturity plan, Hunter told commissioners. The county will then lease the building from the building commission. The rental payments will be used to pay the bank for the bonds.
“This is a structure that has been used throughout the state many times,” Hunter added.
The Raleigh County Building Commission will hold a public meeting on Thursday, July 22, for the third and final reading of the ordinance that will allow this financing to occur. This public hearing will take place at 2:30 p.m.
“Shortly after that, we hope to close,” Hunter continued. “Funding could occur as early as the 23rd.”
Commission President Dave Tolliver stated that the total cost for the new sheriff’s department building is approximately $10.5 million. The commission has made a down-payment of roughly $4 million toward the project. This leaves $6.5 million to be financed through the lease revenue bonds.
Construction for the new sheriff’s department began in March. The facility is estimated to be complete in 2022.
Also, during the meeting, commissioners agreed to use $1.2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act for the Piney View/Batoff Mountain sewer project, to purchase new playground equipment for Stoco Park and Lake Stephens at the cost of $80,000 from the capital improvement fund for parks and recreation, and to approve a GPS ankle monitoring program agreement with the Day Report Center.
The next meeting of the Raleigh County Commission will take place on Tuesday, July 20, at 10 a.m.
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