"The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22-million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? Or a new library? No. $1-million for a park, $15-million-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex...She also supported bonds for $5.5-million for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 years without any borrowing."

The city of Wasilla has made available all of its budgets during Palin's tenure. So we grabbed the fiscal year ending 1996 (when Palin took the reins), which showed the city's long-term debt at $1.12-million, mostly for paving and sewer projects.

The annual financial report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2002 — Palin's last year in office — shows that the total long-term debt was $24.8-million. So Kilkenny is off a bit when she says long-term debt went from zero to $22-million. But it did increase $23.7-million.

And Kilkenny is also correct about the big-ticket items that created the debt: $14.7-million for a new multi-use sports complex; $5.5-million for street projects; and $3-million for water improvement projects.