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Brownsville approves $58 million certificates of obligation to fund civic projects
Summary
The City Commission authorized up to $58 million in certificates of obligation to finance city facilities, public safety design work, downtown improvements, landfill upgrades and technology, following financial advisors’ presentation and a discussion of market timing and credit ratings.
The Brownsville City Commission on Monday approved an ordinance authorizing the issuance and sale of up to $58,000,000 in combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation to fund a range of city projects.
City Deputy Manager and Chief Financial Officer Alan Gard told commissioners the measure would support facility improvements, streets and equipment, grant matches, public safety design, downtown work and technology upgrades. "Much of that is for this city hall, this building we're in right now," Gard said, listing roughly $6.3 million for facility improvements, $7.3 million toward design of a new public safety complex and $3.2 million for downtown investments. He said roughly $11.9 million of the sale would be supported by landfill revenues for landfill equipment and improvements.
The certificates were presented alongside a market and rating update by financial advisor Isaiah Huerta of Estrada & Osa. Huerta said market conditions were favorable for issuing in February and cited a preliminary interest-rate illustration near 4.02 percent. He also said Moody’s had reaffirmed the city’s Aa3 rating and S&P had upgraded Brownsville to AA+, a change he described as significant for access to favorable financing.
Gard and Huerta showed a funding allocation that split the roughly $57.8 million previously discussed into about $45.9 million supported by tax revenues and $11.9 million supported by landfill enterprise revenues. Commissioners corrected a caption error in the ordinance and amended the motion to show $58,000,000 as the aggregate principal amount before voting to approve.
The motion to approve received a second and passed on a voice vote. No roll-call vote tally with named yes/no votes was recorded in the public transcript.
The ordinance delegates authority to city officials to finalize sale terms and move forward with the competitive sale process scheduled for the following week, when bids would be opened and the lowest acceptable bid awarded.
The sale proceeds will be used as described at the meeting; specific contract awards and project schedules were not detailed in the session and will be subject to later actions by the commission or by city staff pursuant to procurement rules.
Funding breakdown (as presented): - Facility improvements (including city hall): $6,300,000 (approx.) - Police/public safety design: $7,300,000 (approx.) - Downtown improvements and comprehensive plan: $3,200,000 (approx.) - Technology upgrades: $4,800,000 (approx.) - Landfill equipment/improvements (landfill-supported): $11,900,000 (approx.) - Other items listed: street maintenance/equipment, transit match, airport grant match, fire and EMS equipment, preliminary recreation center study (amounts not always broken out in transcript)
Commissioners and staff said the timing sought to preserve the city’s adopted projected tax rate (roughly $0.245) while keeping debt service within that framework. Staff noted the city’s taxable assessed value had shown year-over-year growth of about 9 percent, which factors into debt-capacity calculations.
The commission gave final approval by voice vote; the ordinance delegates to designated city officials the authority to set final terms and execute financing documents once bids are received.
Provenance: City staff presentation on ordinance number 2025-1765 (caption error corrected to $58,000,000) and the subsequent motion and vote appeared in the meeting transcript beginning with the item introduction and ending with the recorded voice vote.
