Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City treasurer outlines general-obligation bond reimbursements, says Mesa near 20% indebtedness capacity
Summary
City Treasurer Mark Hoot told the council the proposed general-obligation bonds would reimburse city costs for multiple large capital projects, reported average outstanding interest rates, and estimated Mesa is at about 20% of its GO-bond capacity based on internal calculations.
Mark Hoot, Mesa city treasurer, told the council at the March 17 study session that the city is preparing a general-obligation bond issuance to reimburse costs for a range of large capital projects, including public-safety and cultural facilities.
"These bonds will go to pay for or reimburse the city's costs for a variety of large projects, whether it's the Northeast Public Safety Complex, whether it's fire stations, whether it's police headquarters, libraries, the idea museum," Hoot said. He reported that "to date, general obligation bonds were at 2.57% and for utility bonds were at 3.18%" for the city's outstanding portfolio, but cautioned that those averages may not be the rates paid on any new issue given changing market conditions.
Hoot said the city's internal calculations show Mesa is using roughly 20% of its authorized general-obligation indebtedness capacity ("20.4 if I recall correctly"). Council members asked procedural questions about voter-approval thresholds and arbitrage rules; staff noted the reimbursement approach assists compliance with IRS arbitrage rules by avoiding holding tax-exempt proceeds longer than allowed.
Council discussion framed the bonds as typical financing for multi-year capital work and asked staff to continue providing updates. The study-session transcript records the presentation and council questions; no formal bond sale or voter action was recorded in this meeting.
