Jill Schramm/MDN Bond consultant Myron Knutson talks with Ward County commissioners about refinancing bonds paid using sales tax at the commission’s meeting Tuesday.

Efforts to push back the expiration of Ward County’s half percent sales tax will pick up with the county commission’s decision Tuesday to refinance tax bonds.

The refinancing extends bond payments through 2026, and the existing sales tax is set to expire at the end of 2022.

“If we don’t extend the sales tax, which is what we talked about doing, and if we are not successful in doing that, this will have to be paid for in a mill levy, even if we refinance this,” Commission Chairman John Fjeldahl said.

The county received information that as much as 18 mills of property tax levy would be necessary unless more sales tax revenue is forthcoming.

“We have some work to do here now as far as our sales tax,” Fjeldahl said.

He said he will appoint a committee to begin drafting language regarding a sales tax measure to place before voters. The committee will examine any future sunset date and determine whether additional uses for the sales tax should be part of the measure.

The county approved refinancing two of its three bonds on construction of the county office building, jail expansion and Courthouse renovation. The half percent sales tax approved in November 2012 was imposed to cover building construction and highway improvements.

Sales tax collections are running about $6 million a year. Without refinancing the 2013 and 2015 bonds, those bonds plus the 2017 bond would cost the county about $7.5 million a year for the next three years before annual payments drop for the last two years, according to the county’s bond consultant.

If refinanced and restructured, the bond could possibly be financed at an interest rate just below 2%. The changes would save $1.29 million over the life of the bonds. Actual savings are about $440,000 after subtracting more than $850,000 that the county plans to spend from construction cost savings to reduce the bond principal.