Follow-Up: Charles Crain asks Council to clarify point made by Tom Shadrach

Follow-Up Question to Ordinance 27-26 (Public Hearing to be on May 20, 2026) borrowing of $65M. One of the candidates (Thomas Shadrach) brought up a very good question that I could not find an answer to and I highly recommend one of you get an answer to this before a vote. (NOTE – This is in addition as to why the debt requested is $65M vs the advertised $58M in January 2026 Budget Workshop.)

QUESTION - Ordinance 27-26 limits debt service on these bonds to non-Ad Valorem tax revenue – and in fact it limits it specifically to ‘legally available non-Ad Valorem revenues’. Where is the funding coming from to pay this debt service? And how is it possible that no budget amendment is required when Page 163 of the FY26 Adopted Budget shows $0 for debt service in FY26?

BACKGROUND - (As I Understand it) – The only ‘legally available’ non-Ad Valorem tax revenues that I see in the FY26 budget are Municipal Revenue Sharing, (~$10.4M); Half Cent Sales Tax (~$21.7M); Franchise Fees (~$10.4M); Public Service Tax (~16.0M). All other impact, service and grant related accounts appear to be restricted and not ‘legally available’ for this debt service – correct? Or is there a fund I am missing?

However, all of these revenues have already been balanced in the FY26 adopted budget with expenditures – have they not? If so, then again, how is no budget amendment required to ‘shift’ funds around (according to the Ordinance Agenda Sheet), or use additional revenue within these revenue streams, to pay the debt service?

NOTE – I see the Debt Service Fund expenditures on page 172 (~$30M) paid out of the ~$25M transfers into the fund. And I see the footnote 2 on page 161 wherein the General Fund transfers ~$6.4M to the Debt Service Fund – but none of that can be from Ad Valorem Taxes for payment on this particular debt – correct?

RATIONALE - I am asking this question for two reasons. 1) I have noted in the past a general ‘reluctance’, to say it nicely, of staff to FULLY answer any of Mr. Shadrach’s questions – hence the reason for my restating the question in as much detail as I can muster. 2) I have been sending all of my commentary and questions to interested council and mayoral 2026 candidates. These questions delve into the very heart of how complex city finances are and I want them to understand, for all of our sakes, that this is NOT a simple ‘oh, let’s just cut the spending’, or ‘let’s not increase any taxes’ political pablum position. They have to understand WHERE the money comes from, HOW the money can be spent and WHAT the money can be legally spent on. Or they can simply rely on Staff to do their jobs for them…

Charles Crain

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Thank you Charles for continuing to be a consistent check on the council. Happy to share your perspectives. More people need to be involved like you are. I hope you get a response!

Tom