Perdue Signs Georgia Budget With $1B of New Debt

BRADENTON, Fla. — Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue Wednesday signed into law an $18.6 billion budget for fiscal 2010 that includes just over $1 billion in new borrowing.

The new budget for the gilt-edged Peach State goes into effect July 1 and is $2.5 billion less than what was originally approved in fiscal 2009. The current budget was cut due to declining revenues.

“Cutting the budget has forced a number of difficult decisions, but we have managed the state in a thoughtful, conservative way to ensure Georgians are receiving value for their tax dollars,” Perdue said in a statement. “We have maintained triple-A bond ratings, saving the state tens of millions of dollars, and funded our top priorities to ensure the basic responsibilities of state government are being met.”

Perdue vetoed three items in the budget, two of which were debt service allocations for general obligation bonds.

One was debt service for $1.6 million of 20-year GO bonds to acquire and renovate property for Darton College in Albany, where the Albany Museum of Art is located. Because of current economic conditions, Perdue said the museum planned to remain on the property, which would delay sale of the property to the college.

Perdue also cut debt service for $250,000 of 20-year bonds earmarked for the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center to design and construct a biofuel testing facility.

The state already issued $2 million of debt for the Herty project to fund renovations and equipment purchases and $900,000 of bond proceeds remained unspent. Perdue said he felt that unspent debt proceeds could be redirected to design and construction, making the need for new bonding authority unnecessary at this time.

The fiscal 2010 budget includes debt service for nearly all of the bonding that Perdue requested in his budget. Most of it will go for state universities, public schools, and transportation projects. A specific breakdown was not immediately available.

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