i.2.2.2 When should a public agency consider debt?

Local agencies use debt to pay for capital improvements in the following circumstances:

The asset being acquired has a long useful and economic life and the public agency wants to allocate or distribute the cost of the asset among both current and future users.
The asset is too expensive to be reasonably constructed or acquired with currently available resources.
The local agency intends to undertake deferred maintenance on an existing asset that has not been provided for in the past.
The availability of significant, incremental and, typically discretionary, revenues for the replacement of capital assets is limited or restricted.
Borrowing rates compare favorably to the expected rate of acquisition cost inflation and investment earnings.
The asset fills an urgent need.