The highway garage reserve
Spending the reserve now costs taxpayers $485,000 more
Keep paying from the budget and let the reserve earn interest. Taxpayers pay $742,000 instead of $1.23 million, with four fewer years of payments.
Total paid by taxpayers, 2026–2050
How we got here
The Town has paid this debt responsibly since 2021
The Town borrows $2.3 million to build the new highway garage, the first major debt South Bristol has ever taken on.
The Town Board makes the payments from the budget, about $108,000 a year, and sets aside surplus County sales tax revenue in a reserve to pay off the building.
The new administration wants to change course: free up that $108,000 and start spending the reserve instead.
Hold the current tax levy, keep paying our debt from the budget the way the Town has since 2021, and let the reserve grow until it can pay off the building.
Stop budgeting the $108,000 payment, use that money for other projects, and draw down the reserve that was set aside to pay off the building.
Meg’s plan holds the line on the current tax levy and keeps making the $108,000 payment by making tough choices elsewhere in the budget. The new plan keeps the same levy too, but it drains the reserve that was set aside to pay off the garage and moves the $108,000 to other projects. When the reserve runs out in 2039, the full bill lands back on taxpayers, and it costs them $485,000 more.
Year by year
What taxpayers pay each year
The Town still owes $2.02 million on the 2021 bonds that built the highway garage, about $108,000 a year until 2050. A $1.12 million reserve is set aside to pay it. The only question is when to use it.
4 fewer years of payments
Why paying now wins
The reserve earns more than the debt costs
The total bill to finish paying off the garage is $2.63 million either way. Here’s who covers it:
Left alone, the reserve earns $766,000 in interest instead of $280,000. That extra $485,000 is money taxpayers don’t have to pay.
Respect taxpayers
Know the full cost before spending public dollars
I serve on our Town Board, and I’ve learned that protecting affordability starts with doing the homework. On the highway garage, the homework is clear: keep paying from the budget and let the reserve work for South Bristol taxpayers.
The decisions will be made. Your vote determines who makes them.
Based on the reserve’s balance of $1,121,672.43 on September 30, 2026, earning 3.5% a year (it currently earns 3.7%) with no new deposits, and the Town’s 2021 highway garage bond payment schedule. Totals include the November 15, 2026 interest payment already in the current budget.