Debt and Financial Forecast
Debt Ledger
← Back to Ledger DirectoryWalton County uses debt carefully — funding essential infrastructure like the Broadband project while keeping annual payments a small, manageable share of the budget. Here’s what the County owes, how it’s structured, and when it’s paid off.
Debt Ledger — Capital Project Fund
| Year Ending September 30, | Principal | Interest | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $2,245,783 | $268,920 | $2,514,703 |
| 2028 | $2,310,881 | $196,943 | $2,507,824 |
| 2029 | $2,399,115 | $123,671 | $2,522,786 |
| 2030 | $1,571,648 | $47,343 | $1,618,991 |
| Total | $8,466,013 | $636,877 | $9,102,890 |
What the County currently owes
Walton County’s only outstanding long-term debt is a $27,000,000 Note Payable issued in 2015 and a $2,500,000 Revenue Promissory Note issued in 2020, both used to fund public improvements — most notably the Broadband project. Both notes are repaid exclusively from the County’s half-cent sales tax (in effect since January 2013), not property taxes, and are scheduled to be fully repaid by FY 2030.
Ways Walton County Can Borrow Money
| Debt Type | Status | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| General Obligation Debt | Not in use | Backed by property tax revenue; requires voter approval by referendum. The County retired its last GO bond in 2010. |
| Revenue-Backed Debt | Current debt type | Repaid from dedicated revenue — fees and pledged sales/utility taxes — instead of property tax. The County’s notes payable are this type. |
| Covenant to Budget and Appropriate | Not in use | A pledge to budget enough non-ad valorem revenue each year to cover payments, without pledging a specific revenue source. |
| Capital Leases | Not in use | Long-term financing to acquire land, equipment, or facilities over time instead of paying the full cost upfront. |
| State Revolving Loan Funds and Pools | Not in use | Low-interest state and federal loans for water, sewer, and flood control infrastructure. |
| HUD Section 108 Loan Guarantees | Not in use | Federal loan guarantee for economic development, housing, and public facility projects. |
| Short-Term Debt | Not in use | Variable-rate debt and commercial paper used as cash-management tools, later repaid from grants or longer-term debt. |
Legal debt limit & credit rating
Florida sets no legal debt limit for counties (Florida Statute 200.181), and Walton County hasn’t adopted one internally — the County only takes on debt that reliable revenue can comfortably support. Independent rating agencies (Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch) assess how likely a government is to repay its debts, which affects a bond’s interest rate; Walton County holds a Aa1 rating from Moody’s Investors Service.