St. Croix County Board to borrow $7.5 million for highway shop
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — The St. Croix County Board has approved a resolution to proceed with borrowing $7.5 million primarily to construct a satellite highway shop.
Preparation for the sale of the general obligation promissory notes will take place after the first of the year, and the St. Croix County Board will award the sale of the promissory notes at the June 3, 2025, meeting, said Sean Lentz of Ehlers, Inc., the county’s financial consultant, at the December 3 St. Croix County Board meeting.
Competitive bids on the promissory notes will be taken the morning of June 3, and the estimated closing date on the sale is July 15, 2025, Lentz said.
The sale of the promissory notes is included in the county’s 2025 budget.
The promissory notes will be on a 20-year repayment schedule, Lentz said.
According to information Lentz provided to the St. Croix County Board, the first payment on the promissory notes will be made in 2026, and the final payment will be made in 2045.
On the $7.5 million, the county is expecting to pay about $2.99 million in interest, for a total of $10.5 million for the promissory notes and the interest.
Ehlers will solicit competitive bids and will lock in interest rates, Lentz said.
The numbers Lentz provided for the county board are a projection based on a half a percent in interest more than the current market conditions, he said.
St. Croix County has a AA-1 rating, and the community that sold promissory notes the day of the county board meeting on which the market conditions were based was rated slightly lower than St. Croix County at an A-1 rating, Lentz said.
St. Croix County’s borrowing capacity, at 5 percent of the equalized value, which is the limit set by state law, is $900 million, he said, adding that he would never envision St. Croix County needing to borrow the entire $900 million of the debt capacity.
In 2025, St. Croix County’s outstanding debt will be a little over $100 million.
By 2034, the county’s outstanding debt will be about $50 million if no additional money is borrowed.
The $80 million borrowed for the judicial center is the bulk of the outstanding debt, Lentz said.
According to information Lentz provided to the St. Croix County Board, the property tax levy for the $7.5 million would amount to about $5.32 for a property valued at $200,000.
The property tax levy for a $400,000 property would be $10.64, and for a $1 million property, the debt service levy would be $26.61.
The median value of a house in St. Croix County is $399,923, according to Zillow.com.
Median means that half of the houses in St. Croix County are valued at less than $399,923, and half of the houses are valued at more than $399,923.
Scott Counter, county board supervisor, asked about the “bump” in the debt service property tax levy that will occur in 2026 that the committee on administration had wanted to eliminate.
The bump in 2025 will be interest on the debt, and cash reserves can be used to pay for the interest so that there is no increase in the debt service property tax levy, said Ken Witt, county administrator.
The St. Croix County Board unanimously approved the resolution to move forward with the sale of $7.5 million in general obligation promissory notes.
