Carson City Debt Management Commission Meeting - August 18, 2026
Carson City Debt Management Commission Meeting - August 18, 2026
The Carson City Debt Management Commission met on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at 1:45 PM in the Community Center, Robert 'Bob' Crowell Board Room. All five commissioners were present (Chair Hathaway, Vice Chair Providenti, Commissioners Horton, Sonata, and Walt), establishing a quorum. The commission reviewed the city's and school district's annual debt reports, set the ad valorem tax levy limitation at 90%, established priorities for essential vs. nonessential facilities, and discussed future meeting dates.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (March 17, 2026): The minutes from the March 17, 2026 meeting were approved by unanimous voice vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were offered during either of the two public comment periods.
Discussion Items
- 4A – Carson City Annual Reports and Debt Management Policy: CFO Sherry Russel Benabu presented the city's annual debt report. Key points: outstanding debt is $11 million against a $420 million general obligation (GO) limit (15% of assessed valuation); 62% of debt is for utilities (water, sewer, stormwater); the city's debt as a percentage of assessed value is 4.26%, lower than in prior years. A correction was noted: the indebtedness report omitted $30 million in contemplated future debt (new city hall, North Carson Street improvements, stormwater improvements, courthouse remote mole). Staff agreed to resubmit the corrected report to the Nevada Department of Taxation. The item was discussion only; no action was taken.
- 4B – Carson City School District Annual Reports: The school district's report was reviewed. The district has a $420 million GO limit, with $333 million in outstanding and proposed bonds. No representative from the school district was present. The commission noted the district's debt is declining and both entities have good bond ratings. Discussion only.
- 4E – Next Commission Meeting Date: The commission discussed the next regular meeting. It was set for Tuesday, February 16, 2027 (the third Tuesday of February) at 1:30 PM, subject to potential conflicts with the Board of Equalization. A special meeting was also scheduled for September 10, 2026, at 9:00 AM to consider a resolution related to the city hall project.
Key Outcomes
- 4C – Action: Percentage of Limitation on Ad Valorem Tax Levy: The commission voted unanimously to set the limitation at 90% (the minimum allowed by NRS 350.0155 is 75%). The 90% figure has been the commission's historical practice to accommodate potential disaster-related needs.
- 4D – Action: Priorities for Essential and Nonessential Facilities: The commission voted unanimously to establish priorities as required by NRS 350.0155: essential facilities and services (public safety first, then education, then health) take precedence over nonessential facilities and services (all other).
- Correction to City's Indebtedness Report: Staff will correct the report to include the $30 million in contemplated future debt on page 39 and resubmit to the Department of Taxation.
- Meeting Schedule: Next regular meeting on February 16, 2027; special meeting on September 10, 2026, at 9:00 AM.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 2:30 PM.
Meeting Transcript
The meeting of the debt management commission to order. Would you call the roll, please? Chair Hathaway. Here. Vice Chair Providenti. Commissioner Horton. Commissioner Sonata. Commissioner Walt. Here. We have a quorum. Okay, we're all here. We can go to item number two. The public comment. The public is invited at this time to comment on and discuss any topic that is relevant to or within the authority of the Carson City Debt Management Commission. I see none. Let's go on to the minutes of uh March seventeenth, two thousand twenty-six. Each of you received a copy of uh that document, unless there's any uh suggested modifications. I'll entertain a motion to uh approve the document. So moved. Second. There's a motion uh to move and second. All those in favor say aye. Okay. All righty. Uh item four A is discussion regarding Carson City's annual reports, statements of debt management policy, plans for capital improvement, and updates of information as required by NRS three fifty oh one three. Please identify yourself. Sherry Russ Sherry Russell Benabu, Chief Financial Officer for the record. Um, just gonna go through a few pages. Um page thirty-six of your packet has all of the city's outstanding debt. Which what were page thirty-six of your packet? Okay. Um then as we go through move through the information. Um, I think I wanted to point out on thirty-seven the outstanding debt chart, um, which should shows a dramatic drop off um in the next ten years of debt service. Um, same thing with the next page, thirty-eight. Uh, we have our debt service requirements chart, same thing. Next ten years, a dramatic drop in debt service. Um, I also wanted to point out on page thirty-eight, sixty-two percent of our debt in the pie chart you can see below is utilities. So water, sewer, stormwater. Um, vast majority. And then I want to hop all the way to page thirty-five, uh, where it shows our our uh general obligation debt limit, which is fifteen percent of um assessed valuation. Sixty-nine. Oh, I'm sorry, I was looking at the wrong page. It's sixty-nine in your packet. It has a page number 35 on it too. So I pointed to the wrong number, sorry. Page 69. Um that shows our 15% general obligation limit at 420 million. Uh we currently only have 11 million, so there's 309 million available should we want to issue debt in the future. Um and then on the very last page, or not very not last page, but page 70, the very next page. Um I always like to point out because it looks like we have a very high um geo debt as a percentage of assessed value at 4.26.
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