Hutto council approves Prairie Winds PID bond preliminary offering; homeowners to face annual assessments

The Hutto City Council on Thursday approved a preliminary offering memorandum for the Prairie Winds Public Improvement District (PID) Area 1, a financing step that would let the developer issue special‑assessment bonds to finance streets, water and wastewater extensions and other on‑site infrastructure.

The council voted 7–0 to authorize distribution of the preliminary limited offering memorandum for “City of Hutto, Texas special assessment revenue bond series 2025 of the Prairie Winds Public Improvement District, area number 2.” Jim Sabonis of Hilltop Securities, the city’s financial advisor on the transaction, and the city’s finance director presented the offering document to the council.

Sabonis described the project as a new Prairie Winds improvement area covering 263 acres and 1,093 lots with a projected full‑build taxable value he placed at about $450 million and a projected annual ad valorem tax at full build of over $2 million. Phase 1 would include roughly 280 homes and about $113 million of taxable assessed value, Sabonis said. He described a community benefit fee of $3,500 per lot the developer will pay — roughly $980,000 in the initial phase — and estimated a bond size for phase 1 of about $10.1 million to create a project fund near $8.2 million.

Sabonis also summarized estimated homeowner assessments: for 45‑foot fronting lots he estimated annual assessments of about $2,519, for 50‑foot lots about $2,830 and for 60‑foot lots about $3,175. He said the proposed annual assessment rate is roughly $0.69 per $100 of assessed value. Sabonis said the bonds would amortize over about 35 years and projected approximately $24.2 million of total debt service across the issuance.

Mayor Pro Tem Gordon moved to approve the resolution authorizing release of the offering memorandum; Councilmember Kolar seconded. After brief council discussion about the PID model — described by Sabonis as a way for development to pay its own infrastructure costs rather than shifting that cost to existing residents — the council voted unanimously to distribute the preliminary offering document. Sabonis said the next steps include returning to the council on March 6 with final pricing, a public hearing on the service assessment plan, ordinances levying the assessment and orders issuing the bonds. He said bond closing would follow Attorney General approval.

Votes and next steps: the council specifically approved release of the preliminary offering memorandum Thursday night; the council will consider final pricing, the assessment ordinance, public hearing and bond orders at a future meeting and expects an Attorney General review before closing.

Council commentary at the meeting emphasized that the PID places the assessment burden on buyers in the new development rather than on existing Hutto taxpayers and that the city will receive a community benefit fee. Sabonis and the finance director said the offering memorandum was prepared by staff with bond counsel, financial advisor and underwriter counsel and that it provides the information investors need to evaluate the bonds.

Action taken: Resolution R-2025-059, authorizing distribution of the preliminary limited offering memorandum for Prairie Winds PID Area 1, was approved by the council in a 7‑0 recorded vote.