The math looks simple: leverage money from a new tax hike to build new schools now, and pay for them over the next few decades.
Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner is proposing to finance the construction of new schools with bonds that would be guaranteed by some of the money coming in from an increase in the recordation tax — the tax that homebuyers pay to file their sales paperwork with the county.
“It is my proposal that we would bond $30 million of this revenue,” Berliner told reporters at his Monday briefing.
Last year’s increase in the tax means as much as $70 million in new funds to the county treasury.
Using $30 million a year for five years, he said, the county would be able to effectively double its money, borrowing up to $300 million.
“This is a separate set of dollars that are dedicated for this purpose,” he said — meaning the bonds would not count against the county’s overall bond rating.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Rich Johnson over at WTOP