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Brownsville staff urges $150 million debt sale to protect 2026 capital program if state caps COs
Summary
City staff outlined two 2026 capital-improvement program scenarios and recommended a $150 million up-front certificate of obligation sale to preserve high-priority projects — notably a $70 million public safety complex — if proposed state legislation limits future CO issuances.
Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Alan Guard told the City Commission on Aug. 19 that proposed state legislation likely to cap certificates of obligation (COs) would force the city to change how it schedules its 2026 capital-improvement program (CIP). Guard recommended selling $150 million in debt now under a “scenario B” so the city can match time-sensitive grants and complete high-priority projects.
Guard said the bill under consideration in the Texas Legislature would cap CO issuances at 20% of prior-year property tax revenue, which for Brownsville would amount to about $14,800,000 this year — far short of the $45 million to $50 million per year the city had planned. “It’s very difficult for us to start building a $70,000,000 building when we know we’re only gonna get $15,000,000 a year,” Guard said.
The proposal affects a five-year CIP the commission approved in 2024 that included design and construction funding for a public safety complex, runway…
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