Jackson City Council members vote on plans to reduce debt

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson city officials are tasked with addressing more than $70 million in debt. Tuesday, they voted on plans to do just that.

The Jackson City Council passed a handful of resolutions Tuesday on the city budget, with the aim of reducing the city debt.

“We’re starting to plan long term,” Budget Committee Chairman Paul Taylor said. “We’re looking at what it’s going to take us for the next five years to get there.”

The council voted on a number of methods to refinance the debt, which now totals over $75 million.

“With the potential of refunding some of these bonds, we can smooth out that debt service over subsequent years,” Taylor said.

“Stretch out some of those debt payments out a little further, then lock in some fixed interest rates on some of our variable debt, so that we can get a better rate, both immediately and in the long run,” Mayor Scott Conger said.

Thanks to the refinancing, the city expects to save more money this year.

“On the refunding alone, we’ve seen projections from a savings of $1.8 to $2.4 million, which averages out to about $300,000 a year,” Conger said.

The refinancing process is expected to start this month.

“This will be a very busy month for the financial staff here at the city,” Taylor said. “They’ll be looking and figuring out all the details on those financing proposals.”

Council members also voted to confirm that they would not borrow more than $6.2 million for the capital budget.