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Zephyrhills council approves reimbursement resolution to clear path for up to $31M bond financing
Summary
Council unanimously approved Resolution No. 860-25, a reimbursement resolution that gives the city legal ability to reimburse certain pre-issuance expenses from future bond proceeds; staff was authorized to engage bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriters and will return with financing details in November.
Zephyrhills City Council unanimously approved Resolution No. 860-25 on Aug. 11, 2025, a preliminary step that allows the city to reimburse eligible expenditures from the proceeds of a future bond issue.
Jeff Larson of Larson Consulting Services told the council the reimbursement resolution “gives you the legal ability under federal tax law to reimburse yourself from the bond proceeds should you be spending money from this day forward.” He emphasized the measure is “not an authority to issue the debt” and described it as the first step in a process the city would revisit in November with fuller financing documents and rating-agency work.
The resolution puts the city on a path toward a financing package staff now estimates at no more than $31,000,000; Larson said the items shown on the current project list would likely require about $27,700,000 of debt if everything on the packet is financed. He also outlined professional costs to execute the financing, estimating combined fees (bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriter, rating agencies and related professionals) could total roughly $350,000.
After Larson and staff described the timetable—formal approval steps expected in November and a potential closing in December—Councilmember discussion focused on the size of the package, contingencies if grant awards change and the importance of using bond proceeds for long-lived capital projects such as Zephyr Park and the Public Works facility. The finance director asked for council authority to engage bond counsel, disclosure counsel and an underwriter now so staff can prepare documents; council authorized staff to proceed and directed the city manager to execute the engagement letters once the agreements were finalized.
The vote to approve Resolution No. 860-25 was recorded as unanimous. Staff said it would return with more detailed cost estimates, selected firms and a formal financing schedule at a future meeting.
