The San Jose City Council on Dec. 9 accepted the city's comprehensive annual debt report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.

Maria Oberg, director of finance, and deputy director Chinyu Sun told the council the outstanding city debt portfolio totaled $3,400,000,000 as of 6/30/2025; that figure excludes conduit debt of $834,000,000 issued on behalf of others. Oberg said roughly a third of the outstanding debt is associated with the airport and $981,300,000 of tax allocation bonds (the successor agency series) remain outstanding and mature in 2035.

Staff summarized debt activity for the year: approximately $97,700,000 issued in fiscal 2024-25 (largely airport refunding bonds and lease revenue notes), and $492,000,000 in total completed debt issuance so far in the new fiscal year including general obligation tranches and multifamily housing revenue bonds (the latter issued as conduit financing and not as city debt). Chinyu Sun explained authorized credit facilities and noted unused capacity in several programs.

Oberg highlighted the city's credit ratings, saying San Jose is tied for second among the 12 largest U.S. cities with Moody's Aa1, S&P AA+ and Fitch AAA. She cautioned that staff does not manage debt solely to preserve a rating, but acknowledged higher ratings generally reduce borrowing costs.

Council accepted the debt report by unanimous vote. Staff recommended continued monitoring of issuance plans and noted planned future issuances including commercial paper notes and potential clean energy prepayment financing authorized up to $1.25 billion.

Ending: The council voted to accept the comprehensive annual debt report; staff will continue to brief council as future issuance plans evolve.