Kaufman County commissioners court on the first meeting of 2025 heard a presentation from George Williford of Hilltop Securities outlining financing options for a proposed new juvenile detention center, including $30 million, $35 million and $40 million bond scenarios and their projected tax impacts.

Williford, the county's long-time financial adviser, told the court the firm modeled a 20-year financing at a conservative 4.6% interest rate and structured scenarios that used an initial period of interest-only payments to reduce short-term tax impacts. "To finance $30,000,000 would require an increase of 0.63 pennies," Williford said, projecting that the county's debt rate could rise from 5.3¢ to about 5.93¢ during the peak years under that scenario.

Why it matters: the county faces a choice among financing routes with different legal and calendar constraints. Williford described two primary options: general obligation (GO) bonds, which would require voter approval and carry the county's full ad valorem taxing authority, and certificates of obligation (COs), which can be issued without a voter election though the statutory process for COs includes public notices and can, in some circumstances, trigger legal challenges.

Williford presented estimated household impacts using the county's average residential taxable value of about $310,000. Under the $30 million scenario he estimated the annual tax bill increase at roughly $19.59; the $40 million scenario produced a projection of about $25 per year. He emphasized these were model projections dependent on interest rates and future property-value growth.

He also reviewed debt-service schedules that wrap a new issue around the county's existing bonded debt so the combined annual debt service peaks in the mid-term and then drops as older issues retire. Williford highlighted that GO bonds require scheduling around the state's uniform election dates (May or November) and that a successful GO election has procedural lags—Canvass and contest periods—before bonds can be sold, whereas COs can be sold much sooner after the required public-notice period.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions but did not take formal action on financing at the meeting. Williford said he and county staff would provide further modeling and could present alternative structures if the court requested them.

The discussion did not include a vote; the presentation was advisory and focused on timing, costs and process options to inform any future formal financing decisions.