A loan for the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s new central office may be considered on Feb. 3 by the Local Government Commission for approval.

The loan, for $6.5 million and more than $1 million in interest, was approved unanimously Monday by the Rowan County Board of Commissioners. If approved by the Local Government Commission, the loan would represent the largest portion of money set aside for the central office project, with other funding coming from the city of Salisbury, a nonprofit organization and a private donor.

The Local Government Commission, a financial regulatory agency for counties and municipalities, typically requires applications to be submitted four weeks prior to a meeting, according to its submission policy. The state agency’s next meeting is Feb. 3. Four weeks prior would have required the loan to be submitted by Tuesday, Jan. 6.

“This provides adequate time for staff review of the application and for compiling any additional information that may be necessary,” the Local Government Commission’s submission policy states.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the state agency hadn’t received a loan application from Rowan. When asked, Rowan Finance Director Leslie Heidrick said the application was scheduled to be sent Thursday via FedEx. It would arrive in Raleigh Friday, Heidrick said.

“While we have not received the application yet, LGC staff has been in contact with Rowan’s finance officer and are expecting the application this week,” Local Government Commission spokesman Brad Young said in an email. “Assuming that all documentation is present and complete, there is a possibility that the item could appear on the February LGC agenda.”

County Manager Aaron Church compared the Local Government Commission deadline to the county commissioners’ deadline for agenda items, saying that non-controversial items are easily added to the commissioners’ agenda.

“This financing is just a basic, general financing,” he said. “Rules can be amended for stuff that’s not controversial.”

If the loan isn’t considered during the February meeting, the approved loan proposal from SunTrust Bank would technically expire. SunTrust’s original proposal states “this transaction must close by February 12, 2015.” The county’s original request for proposals also included a closing date of February 12, 2015. Heidrick said the county would ask SunTrust Bank to extend its deadline if a February closing isn’t possible.

Church said having the loan approved by the February deadline was aggressive, especially considering the county commissioners considered it Monday.

“It would have been impossible to get it in their hands by their deadline,” he said. “We still think, and we’re hopeful, that they will make an exception for us and get it on their February agenda, but if they don’t then they don’t.”

He said the Local Government Commission, Rowan County and the Rowan-Salisbury School System are all working as quickly as possible.

The Local Government Commission “could get it and their board could decide to put it on in March and, in March, they may have more questions and it goes to April. It’s just the way government works,” he said.

The Local Government Commission’s executive committee meets in early March.

Young said the official agenda for the Local Government Commission’s February meeting would be released on Jan. 27 or 28.

The central office loan was one of three proposals received in December by Rowan County. A proposal from SunTrust Bank, which was the loan approved by commissioners, came with two different interest options — the lower of the two was 2.48 percent.

If the Local Government Commission approves the loan in February, the county’s payments would end in February 2030.

With a February state agency approval, the school central office could be ready to occupy in late 2015 or January 2016, according to superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody.

School Board chairman Josh Wagner said construction contracts for the central office wouldn’t be valid indefinitely, but a certain degree of patience is needed.

“I think there is an urgency because we’ve come so far in the process,” Wagner said about the central office. “It is urgent, but we understand that certain things need to happen. We wouldn’t want to take a chance, rush ourselves and make a mistake.”

Clarification: A previous version of this story, published online only, misstated the intent of Rowan County government. Rowan County initially intended the school board central office loan to be considered in March, according to County Manager Aaron Church.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246