West Allis committee authorizes up to $10.44 million in general obligation notes for streets, lighting and utilities

The West Allis administration committee approved a resolution setting parameters for the sale of up to $10,440,000 in general obligation promissory notes to fund capital projects approved in the 2025 capital budget.

City staff and municipal adviser Harry Allen of Ehlers told the committee the borrowing will fund street reconstruction, street-lighting replacement and water and sewer infrastructure work. Staff presented a project funding breakdown: $1,600,000 for water, $3,250,000 for sewer, $3,582,000 for streets and $1,950,000 for street lighting.

Allen said the streets and street-lighting portions will be amortized over 10 years with level principal payments, while the utility portions will be amortized over 15 years and paid from utility funds rather than the city levy. He said staff modeled interest at 4.8 percent but expected market pricing to be better and estimated a likely all-in rate near 3.9 percent. The resolution sets a maximum interest cost of 4.5 percent and limits fees and issue size to the $10,440,000 authorized in the resolution.

Staff outlined the schedule: a rating agency review was scheduled the following week, the official statement would be distributed in early August, bids would be received on Aug. 14, and bond proceeds were expected to be available to the city on Aug. 28.

Committee members asked questions and then approved the resolution; the chair declared the resolution adopted.

The city’s use of general obligation capacity was described as conservative: the presenter said West Allis was using about 25 percent of its statutory GEO-debt capacity at the end of 2024 and expected to be near 24 percent after the new issuance.