Sweetwater awards sale of $2M certificates to fund fire truck; council proposes tax rate and schedules hearings

The Sweetwater City Council on Aug. 12 approved the sale of combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation of up to $2,000,000 to finance the purchase of a fire truck and related equipment and accepted the winning bid from BOK Financial Securities.

Andrew Friedman, the city’s financial adviser from Samco Capital Markets, told the council eight bids were received and that the winning bid’s true interest cost was about 3.64 percent. He described national market conditions that had driven rates lower in recent weeks and said the city’s debt will be structured to amortize fire-truck debt over 15 years and EMS equipment over five years, matching useful life of assets.

Nut graf: The sale provides funding for a capital fire apparatus and associated equipment; the council approved issuance and completion of required closing documents. Friedman also noted Standard & Poor’s affirmed the city’s AA- credit rating, which supported competitive market interest rates.

Council approved the sale by voice vote and authorized execution of closing documents. Later in the meeting the council proposed a tax rate of 0.513613 per $100 of valuation, which the staff said exceeds the no-new-revenue rate but remains below the voter-approval rate; the increase was described in the meeting as representing an effective 13.41 percent increase in the tax rate. The council set a public hearing on the tax rate for Sept. 9, 2025 and a date to adopt the rate on Sept. 16, 2025.

During a roll-call on the tax-rate proposal, Mayor Pro Tem Tim McPherson, Councilman Baker, Councilman Castro, Council member Boyle and the mayor voted in favor; the motion carried.

Ending: Staff will prepare legal closing documents for the certificates of obligation and proceed with the scheduled tax-rate hearings in September.