§ 27-1. Policy established.

The Town of Malta establishes the following policy concerning the issue and management of debt:

A. 

The Town of Malta will not use long-term debt to finance current operations.

B. 

The Town of Malta will utilize long-term borrowing only for capital improvement projects that cannot be financed from current revenue sources.

C. 

The total debt service of the Town of Malta will not exceed 10% of the total operating budget of the Town of Malta for any given year.

D. 

The total debt of the Town of Malta will not exceed 7% of the Town of Malta's average full value assessment of the last five years.

E. 

The investment of capital funds is governed by state statute, Town Code and town policy.

F. 

When the Town of Malta finances capital projects by issuing debt, it will pay back the debt in a period not exceeding the expected life of those projects.

G. 

The Town of Malta will seek to retire 50% of the total principal outstanding within 10 years of the year of issuance.

H. 

The Town of Malta will seek level or declining debt repayment schedules and will avoid issuing debt that provides for balloon principal payments reserved at the end of the term of the issue.

I. 

The Town of Malta will avoid overreliance on variable debt due to the potential volatility of such instruments. Therefore, the Town of Malta will avoid the use of variable-rate debt for its general obligation bond issues.

J. 

The Town of Malta will maintain good communications with bond rating agencies about its financial condition and will follow a policy of full disclosure on every financial report and bond prospectus.