Cedar Hill ISD board approves parameters order to issue up to $30 million in bonds to secure state hold-harmless aid

Cedar Hill ISD trustees voted to authorize a parameters order that allows the district to issue up to $30,000,000 in unlimited tax school building bonds (Series 2025) to capture state 'hold-harmless' funding connected to recent legislative changes.

Jeff Robert, the district's bond advisor (introduced as with Hilltop Security), told trustees that Senate Bill 23 increased exemptions for taxpayers 65 and older and for certain disabled taxpayers, which will reduce local property rolls. The Legislature included a hold-harmless provision for districts that sell and close bond issues before Sept. 1, 2025. Mr. Robert said the district's preliminary calculation for the $30,000,000 issuance implies roughly 11.88% in hold-harmless funding, or about $6.7 million; if the district waited until after Sept. 1, that amount would not be guaranteed and would have to be made up locally.

The parameters presented to the board include conservative assumptions on interest and maturity: the advisor used a 6% cap in the order to avoid being unable to meet the Sept. 1 deadline, though Mr. Robert said he was hopeful pricing would come in under 5% following recent market moves. The parameter order delegates final pricing authority to the superintendent (referred to in the meeting as Dr. Gamel) or to Jacqueline West, but only if specified parameters are met; the delegation expires in 365 days and the bond final maturity was shown as 2052.

Trustee Ramona Ross Bacon moved to accept the administration's recommendation; Trustee Ayanna Cabrera Cook seconded. The chair called for a show of hands and recorded no opposition. "So it passed unanimously," the presiding officer said; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally by name.

Next steps noted in the presentation included pricing the bonds as soon as the day after the meeting should the board adopt the order and completing the sale and closing before the Sept. 1 hold-harmless cutoff to secure the state aid.

Bond counsel and related advisors attending included a Western Associates representative (named in the transcript as Bridal King) and Rob Collins from Bracewell, who were available to answer legal questions. The board approved the parameters order in open session and then moved to adjournment.