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Gila County holds public hearing on roughly $18 million revenue bond for flood recovery
Summary
County finance advisers and the board held a required public hearing on using a revenue bond—initially estimated near $18 million—to fund flood-recovery and emergency public-works projects; advisers said the county could downsize the issue and aim to repay it quickly with incoming federal and state grants.
Gila County held a public hearing on March 3 to meet Arizona Revised Statute 11-391 requirements before potentially issuing a long-term revenue obligation to pay for flood recovery and related public-works projects.
Mark Reeder of Stifel, the county’s financial adviser, told the board the county must analyze the need for the projects, alternatives to long-term borrowing and potential repayment sources. Reeder said the current planning figure is ‘‘in the neighborhood’’ of $18 million but that staff and the board are working to reduce the size of any issue and structure it to be repaid quickly once grant reimbursements arrive.
‘‘We’re in there for, like, 18,000,000 now,’’ Reeder said, adding the team aims to close a transaction in May and return to the board on April 7 with a resolution delegating authority to staff to proceed if terms are acceptable.
The presentation outlined several constraints and policy objectives: limiting the amount of debt, ensuring compliance with federal reimbursement timelines, and using grant proceeds to retire debt early when possible. Reeder said counties under a population of 500,000 must follow the same public-notice and public-hearing procedures and that the county will solicit bids from financial institutions once the board moves forward.
No formal vote on issuing bonds was taken during the hearing. The board accepted oral comment and may choose whether to pursue the financing when it returns with a proposed resolution. If the board approves a delegation resolution in April, staff would proceed with underwriting and aim to close in May if market and grant-timing conditions allow.
Why it matters: The financing would provide a near-term funding source to accelerate flood-related infrastructure repairs and emergency contracts. Board members emphasized a preference to pay down any debt quickly with federal and state grants to minimize long-term local tax or rate impacts.
