Robinson — The Robinson City Council voted to authorize the issuance and sale of combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation and set a proposed maximum property tax rate of 0.539732 for public hearings on Aug. 19 and Aug. 26. The council adopted the bond ordinance after hearing a presentation from the city's municipal finance advisor and staff about timing, bids and uses of proceeds.

The ordinance authorizes certificates of obligation to fund capital projects that city staff described as primarily street repairs, a ladder truck purchase and utility projects. Jennifer Miller, a supervisor with the public finance firm that managed the sale, told the council the bonds received competitive bids and that the sale produced market rates favorable to the city. “You authorized notice to be published a couple of months ago at your meeting. So this is the completion of that process, under state law. So tonight would be the night that you decide if you wanna move forward or not,” Miller said during her presentation.

Why this matters: council members said they want borrowing now to address long-standing street needs that they said are slowing local development, and they discussed using the tax rate process to preserve flexibility while finalizing the budget. The council instructed staff to hold the public hearing on the proposed tax rate on Aug. 19 and to consider adoption at a special meeting on Aug. 26.

Most important facts: city staff explained the financing plan and how proceeds will be allocated. The council packet and staff presentation said the total amounts authorized for projects are approximately $33 million in certificates of obligation authorization, with staff-level sources-and-uses identifying roughly $22.5 million for streets, $2.5 million for a ladder truck and about $8 million for utility projects. The finance presentation noted that premium from the sale would cover issuance costs so the full authorized amount would go to projects. Council and staff discussed the interest rate the bonds achieved (the winning bid was reported near 4.32–4.33 percent) and a planned closing/fund date in late August.

Council action and next steps: the council voted to adopt the ordinance authorizing the certificates of obligation and instructed staff to notify underwriters and proceed to closing, with staff stating an anticipated fund date of Aug. 26. The council also voted to place a proposed tax rate of 0.539732 on the Aug. 26 agenda and to call a public hearing for Aug. 19; that figure was presented as the maximum proposed rate the council could consider when adopting the tax rate and budget at the later meeting. Council members emphasized the ability to lower the proposed rate after budget discussions but not to raise it beyond that maximum once set.

Budget amendments: in a related action the council adopted an ordinance amending the 2024–25 budget to reflect several midyear adjustments. Staff said the general fund street maintenance line needed a $50,000 increase to finish additional pavement work after a contractor (identified in the discussion as Viking) offered extra capacity. The utility fund also received a net increase of about $30,000 to system/distribution maintenance after an unplanned failure at the Moonlight lift station that required pump replacement and rental bypasses; staff estimated the lift-station repair at roughly $90,000. Council also approved moving the accounting for the ladder truck purchase into the current fiscal year so the vehicle can be closed out earlier, with staff noting the purchase amount itself did not change.

What council members said: at least one councilmember argued for setting the highest allowable proposed tax rate to preserve options during the budget workshop; others said they preferred caution and planned to discuss allocations in the workshop. City staff provided example impacts, saying the change from the city’s current rate to the voter-approval maximum would be roughly $29.70 per $100,000 of property value in one calculation and that the difference between the currently proposed rate and the maximum would amount to about $90 per year on an average $330,000 home, as presented during the meeting.

Background: staff said the city obtained multiple competitive bids and that rating analysts recognized the city’s need to invest in streets; staff also said a portion of issuance premium would be used to pay issuance costs so that the authorized project amount goes to capital needs. The financing team noted market conditions are driven by national treasury yields and by a heavy Texas calendar of issuances this season, which affected bidder participation.

Council members closed the action by adopting the ordinance authorizing the certificates of obligation and formally placing the proposed tax rate and hearing dates on the calendar for final budget decisions later this month.

Forward-looking: staff will finalize calculations with the county assessor and publish the formal proposed rate and hearing notices ahead of the Aug. 19 public hearing; bond closing and fund delivery were scheduled for late August, after which the city expects to begin project execution.