County's bond sales suffer as economy sputters

Cities and counties sell government bonds to finance repairs, improvements and new construction

Durham County plans to build a new courthouse and human services building. It's just having a little $130 million problem.

Towns and counties across the nation finance large projects like schools, streets and water mains through local-government bonds.

To pay for the projects, though, investors have to buy the bonds. And right now, that is not happening.

"We've had a problem selling bonds," said George Quick, Durham County finance director.

Thus, Wall Street meets Main Street -- and maybe the street where you live that needs repaving.

The City of Durham has construction plans, too. But it escaped financing problems by issuing its bonds in early July, ahead of the competition, said City of Durham finance director Keith Herrmann.

"We got all our stuff out of the way," he said.

Earlier this year, the county had no trouble selling bonds, either -- testimony in part to the AAA credit rating it and the City of Durham enjoy.

"The ability to borrow money is not something we've had to consider the last 10 or 15 years," said county budget director Pamela Meyer.

Times have changed.

"Obviously, the financial health of the nation will affect what local governments can do," said assistant county manager Carolyn Titus.

Quick said it is "kind of far out to be speculating" what market conditions will be next year, but the city and county's budgeting process for 2008-'09 begins in less than three months.

Durham County now plans to ask voters' approval for a bond issue of $131 million next year, Titus said. That money would go for school construction and expanding the main public library.

The city's long-overdue street resurfacing is just beginning to use the money from bonds sold after a 2007 referendum, said public works director Katharine Kalb. By next summer, 35 miles of city streets should have new pavement.

That would leave 651 miles of city streets to be attended, many of them with potholes and multiple patches.

"Eventually, we'll have to go back to the voters," Kalb said, although the city council has considered switching street maintenance from bond funding to pay-as-you-go from regular revenue.

Right now, projected costs of Durham County's planned capital improvement projects, 2008-'17, add up to about $898 million (excluding costs already financed) with more than 94 percent projected to be covered by bonds, bond-like certificates of participation and bank loans.

The capital-improvement plan is presently under its regular once-every-other-year revision, and the schools and library money "will obviously be a major part of the conversation," Meyer said.

The City of Durham also regularly revises its Capital Improvement Plan. The present, 2009-2014 plan's total (also excluding "prior years" figures) comes to about $960 million, to be covered about 6 percent with bonds and 61 percent with "unidentified" income.

For Durham residents, then, a lot is riding on investors' fortunes. What that means, Titus said, is "Wait and see."

"We never foresaw the market meltdown," Herrmann said this week. "Right now we're sailing through uncharted waters."