Huber Heights staff outline $71.8 million note issuance plan and proposed debt policy, request expedited readings

Huber Heights finance staff on May 8 told the City Council at a work session they plan to return with ordinances to issue short-term notes totaling about $71.8 million — a $56 million general-obligation group and a $15.8 million income-tax revenue note — and asked council to waive second readings so the notes can be priced in late June.

The municipal advisor, Andy Brosart, told council the plan is to group the borrowing into four market offerings for sale, then refinance or convert to long-term bonds later when market conditions are better. “The levy passing is a huge credit positive,” Brosart said, noting the recent public-safety income tax renewal will strengthen the city’s rating conversation with Standard & Poor’s. Staff told council a pricing date around June 24 and a closing before current notes mature on July 10.

City Finance staff framed the borrowing as a mix of rollovers and new money for capital projects. The packet listed specific revenue sources that will pay debt service — including Montgomery County TIF revenues, gas-tax funds, water/sewer/stormwater collections and several named TIF/CRA districts (Meadows TIF, Authentic TIF, Dogtown CRA) — and said most borrowing will not draw on the general fund. Staff also proposed a debt-management policy and a budget-stabilization reserve to improve credit metrics before the S&P rating call.

Why it matters: staff said the income-tax renewal and clearer policies should lower borrowing costs; the timing is driven by note maturities and market windows. Finance staff said the city currently uses about 7.8 mills of the constitutional 10-mill indirect debt capacity shared across overlapping jurisdictions, leaving roughly 1.6 mills available under the state constitution’s limit.

Details and next steps: staff said the issuance will appear as 11 ordinances on an upcoming council agenda (grouped in the market offering into four pieces). Andy Brosart and city staff described the components: rollover principal coming due, new-money items, and capitalized interest. The city will have an S&P rating call after council acts; staff said the levy passage and new formal policies should check boxes for rating analysts. Jim (staff member) told council he will bring a supplemental to establish an initial budget-stabilization reserve based on 2024 revenues, and estimated that reserve could be “close to $1,200,000.”

Quotations in context: Andy Brosart, the city’s municipal advisor, said, “The levy passing is a huge credit positive.” Jim (staff member) said the proposed reserve “could be around, close to $1,200,000.”

What council did: at the work session staff asked council to waive second readings and adopt the related ordinances as non-emergency items to meet the pricing timeline. Council directed staff to place the ordinance items on the next regular meeting agenda for formal consideration; the legislative schedule discussed in the session shows pricing planned for June 24 and closing before the July 10 maturities.

Ending: If council approves the ordinances and the related debt-management policies at the next meeting, staff expects to proceed with the rating call and a late‑June market pricing. The city’s longer-term plan is to evaluate taking portions to bonds when projects are more complete and market conditions are favorable.