Borrowed money: No debt for school aid

The Union Leader comes out against Gov. John Lynch's plan to borrow money to pay for state school construction aid on this morning's editorial page:

Last year, Gov. John Lynch got legislators to agree to bond about $40 million in building aid for local school districts. This year, he has proposed borrowing another $83 million over the next two years for the same purpose. Legislators should say no.

The governor justifies this move by saying that, well, this money pays for capital projects so it's OK to borrow it. But his plan amounts to borrowing the money twice.

Local school districts borrow money for construction projects. The state has long paid a share of these costs by giving localities grants from the general fund. If the state borrows money to pay off locally borrowed money, as Lynch proposes, then it increases the debt -- and the interest -- for those projects.

That's not smart. It's like making your monthly credit card payment with money borrowed from another credit card.