NH Building Aid not sustainable

Karen Langley in the Concord Monitor reports on the state's Building Aid Program, which is currently funding by borrowing money to give to local school districts.

The state pays out about $45 million in partial reimbursement of school building costs annually. The money was included in the state budget's general fund until 2009, when an increasingly tortured economy pushed legislators to borrow the aid.

Borrowing the money can work as a temporary salve but would have a crippling effect if continued, the state treasurer has told members of the legislative committee commissioned to study the program. If the state continues bonding at current rates, the annual debt service will reach $50 million by 2020, said state Treasurer Catherine Provencher.