Council approves $7.01 million Buda share of regional SWIFT financing for Alliance water expansion

The Buda City Council on a unanimous vote approved a resolution authorizing the Alliance Regional Water Authority to issue bonds through the Texas Water Development Board’s SWIFT program and delegated signature authority to the mayor or city manager.

Graham, the Alliance representative who briefed the council, said the financing would cover two items: refinancing a previously issued bond anticipation note and funding an expansion of the treatment plant and distribution system. "Buda's contractual capacity is 349 acre feet per year," Graham said, "at the end of 1b, that'll rise to 762 acre feet per year," a rise he described as "a little more than a doubling of the capacity that'd be available to Buda." He said the total SWIFT financing under consideration was $138,000,000, with Buda’s share noted in the staff packet as $7,010,000.

Council members questioned timing and interest-rate assumptions. Graham and a financial advisor explained the Water Development Board sets final rates at a single annual sale; the board’s preliminary pricing showed rates below the packet estimate. The council asked that final pricing be delegated to city leadership so the city could meet the Water Development Board’s sale schedule; after discussion the council amended the delegation language to permit either the mayor or the city manager to act as Buda’s authorized representative.

The resolution authorizes ARWA to move forward with SWIFT financing so long as the final interest rate did not exceed the delegation cap the council approved. The ARWA representative said the board expects to close the loans on Dec. 2 and that the treatment-plant performance demonstration testing is underway.