Sterlington pays off bonds, drops sales tax rate

STERLINGTON, La. (KNOE) - The town of Sterlington has paid back three bonds earlier this month. Two were related to the Sterlington Sports Complex and one was for the Economic Development District (EDD).

Mayor Matt Talbert said residents will feel some relief in their wallets as the EDD sales tax will decrease by 1% starting July 1.

Once the town gets more debt off its back, it can start doing more things in the community, Talbert said.

“I think this is a big moment in the life of our town too. There’s just been a cloud hanging over Sterlington with the amount of debt that we’ve had. I think it eases the minds of your citizens. They understand that they’re not living in a place that is just drowning in debt,” Talbert said.

Talbert said this wasn’t just about paying off debt. It was about keeping a promise.

“We did have to borrow some money from ourselves from our general fund to pay off the EDD, but it just saved us a massive amount in interest payments. I think year to date we were already at $47,000 in interest. So by paying that off early and borrowing the money from another fund within the town, we’re able to save those interest payments,” Talbert said.

Town officials said they expect to pay back the general fund bond in one or two years.

Looking to the future, Talbert said the next bond the town will focus on is financing the sewer improvements.

“There’s quite a bit of debt. Most of the debt now is left on sewer. And so getting those because especially the DEQ (Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality), because DEQ mandates that we have a certain debt to income ratio. And so that’s one of the things that drives the sewer cost out here is that debt to income ratio that we’re required to have through DEQ because of the bonds that we have with them,” Talbert said.

In total, the town of Sterlington has reduced its debt from about $25 million to under $10 million, Talbert said.