- 220 miles of icy roads
- 3000 tons of salt
- 2% interest rate
Hillsborough's current salt-storage facility, built in 1982, holds just 664 tons of salt. Industry trade groups recommend storing 75 to 100 percent of the salt that will be needed on a yearly basis. For our town, that amounts to somewhere between 1,900 and 2,500 tons of salt - or three to four times as much as can currently be stored.
There is one more number - $350,000. That's the price tag for the new facility.
While some may see a disconnect between a township committee that has promoted "pay-as-you-go" and "debt reduction" and a plan to borrow $350,000, to me it makes sense.
The point of debt reduction is to decrease the yearly debt service so that a necessary project like the salt storage facility - which, by the way, also helps compliance with state stormwater regulations - can fit within the annual budget. At an interest rate of 2%, this salt project shouldn't "shake up" Hillsborough's finances at all.
Greg,
ReplyDeleteWouldn’t it make sense to have one of the home building companies that are currently building houses in Hillsborough pay for the cost of this? Let’s find the company that has build the most amount of houses in Hillsborough over the last 10 years and have them pay for it. Make it a contingency upon the next set of homes they build in the town.
I know this statement is naive and maybe even ignorant but in theory it makes sense.