Washington County approves certificates of obligation to fund judicial center despite petition

The Washington County Commissioner’s Court voted 4–1 Aug. 11 to authorize the issuance and sale of Certificates of Obligation, series 2026, to fund construction of a judicial center.

County Clerk (speaker 7) told the court that a protest petition filed the day before contained 703 signatures, and that three affidavits withdrawing names reduced the total to 700 — short of the 5% threshold required under Texas Local Government Code §271.049(c), which for Washington County equaled 1,295 signatures. "The petition I received yesterday contains 703," the clerk said, later noting three withdrawals.

Judge (speaker 1) reported that the county’s financial analyst had received 12 bids on the CO offering and that "the apparent winner came in with a rate of 4.41%, which is slightly above what we budgeted 4.35". The judge said volatility in markets contributed to the difference and quantified the impact as "less than 19,000 per year," which he described as a modest budgetary increase.

Commissioner (speaker 3) moved to approve the order authorizing issuance of the COs; Commissioner (speaker 8) seconded. The court approved the motion with a 4–1 voice vote.

The action authorizes execution of a paying agent/registrar agreement and approval of the official statement; staff said bids still must be verified against bid specifications before final sale. No change to the project scope was reported at the meeting.

What’s next: county staff will complete bid verification and finalize sale documents before closing the financing.