New Prague council approves bond calls for street and utility work and for a new police station despite one council member's objections

The New Prague City Council on April 7 voted to call for the sale of $5,035,000 in general obligation bonds to finance the city’s 2025 street and utility projects and advanced a separate capital-improvement bond tied to construction of a new police station.

Rebecca Kurtz of Ehlers, the city’s financial adviser, told the council the $5,035,000 issue includes the street portion (just under $4 million), a water portion of roughly $525,000 and a storm portion of about $415,000, plus $105,000 in equipment certificates for golf course equipment. She said assessments will cover a minimum 20% of the street and utility project per the improvement statute and that debt will be structured to match projected assessment revenue; the bonds would be callable in 2035 and interest would begin in February 2026.

Kurtz said adopting the city’s official-intent resolution preserves the municipality’s ability to reimburse preliminary costs from bond proceeds once the sale is complete. “Adopting this resolution preserves the city's ability to make sure that you are able to reimburse yourself for all expenses that may occur prior to having those bond proceeds in place,” she told the council.

Council members approved the presale resolution by voice vote. Results of the public sale will be reported back at the May 5 meeting, Kurtz said.

The meeting also advanced financing for a proposed new police station. Ehlers presented a presale plan that staff described in the packet as approximately $10.43 million in general obligation capital improvement plan bonds; the packet contains a closely related figure ($10,403,000) in places, which staff noted during the presentation. The police station issue would be amortized over a 30-year term with principal payments beginning in 2027 and interest beginning February 2026. Officials also said $380,000 in building-fund cash was planned to reduce issuance and to eliminate capitalized interest for the project.

The police station bond drew the meeting’s most sustained debate. One council member expressed strong reservations about timing and scope, calling the planned facility “overkill” for the department’s current staffing and saying the process had moved too quickly. “I’m voting no for it, just because I don’t think this is the right time,” the council member said. Other council members pushed back, saying the facility needs and the planning work dated back several years and that pausing the project now could cost the city more, given bids already received and money invested in the project.

Council members ultimately voted to adopt the resolution providing for issuance of general obligation capital improvement bonds tied to the police station; the vote was taken by voice. (The formal sale and award of the bonds will be presented to council after bids are received.)

What’s next: Ehlers will proceed with the rating call and bond-sale schedule; staff said results from the sales will be brought to the council on May 5. Any changes to the police station scope, cost or timing will be identified in that follow-up material.