Hays County Commissioners Adopt Order For Issuance Of Second Half Of 2016 Bond Package

Staff Reports

On Tuesday, the Hays County Commissioners voted 4-0 with Commissioner Walt Smith absent to adopt an order authorizing the issuance of “Hays County, Texas Unlimited Tax Road Bonds.

According to Dan Miller, Specialized Public Finance, financial advisor to the county, the county has the remaining authorization of $106,400,000 in road bonds; the authorization is the second of two approved by voters in the Hays County 2016 Road Bond Election.

Miller said interest rates are well below what they were projected to be when the bonds were approved by voters.

“If you delegate today, Marisol and I have a conference call with rating agencies set up for July 3,” Miller said. “That’s when we will talk to them. They are assessing your creditworthiness at your rating level.”

The rating agencies look at the economy, financial performance of the county, the debt levels of the county and the management of the county.

According to Miller, the county is currently in the AA category and is two “notches” away from the triple AAA rating.

Miller said in addition, part of the projects that have been funded by the county were part of projects that the state agreed to reimburse the county for completing them.  

County staff said the county expects to be reimbursed $133 million for the projects, which will go toward paying off the debt incurred to complete the projects.

Commissioner Mark Jones said the county was one of the last to receive the deal with the state, and that the agreement helped fund projects such as FM 1626.

The county can only issue bonds up to the remaining $106.4 million of the 2016 Road Bond Package.