Northlake council approves $15.455 million certificates of obligation and a slate of development actions

NorthlakeTown Council on March 13 approved the issuance of $15,455,000 in combination tax and limited surplus revenue certificates of obligation to fund a package of water, sewer and road projects and covered several related development and infrastructure items in a string of votes.

The ordinance authorizing the certificates passed unanimously after council heard bond pricing results and credit ratings from the town’s financial advisers. Marty Hsu of Hilltop Securities told council the competitive sale produced a winning bid from Fidelity Capital Markets with a true interest cost of 4.19 percent and that both S&P Global and Fitch Ratings affirmed the town’s double-A grade. John Thompson, representing town staff, said the issuance principal of $15,455,000 plus the expected premium and closing costs will fund projects totaling about $16.1 million as budgeted.

Why it matters: the sale moves previously budgeted capital projects into construction and finance; the premium from the sale is expected to cover the remaining project gap between the sold amount and the engineer estimate. "It is not something that we woke up today and said we're gonna sell $16,000,000 worth of bonds," Hsu said, describing the months-long underwriting and rating process. "You should feel proud — you are only two notches away from a perfect score."

Votes at a glance - Ordinance authorizing sale of Town…