The town of Providence Village took the first steps toward an $18.8 million bond package with a plan of finance from Hilltop Securities during its meeting on Tuesday.
Hilltop Securities Managing Director Andre Ayala returned to address the plan, which is to issue both a general obligation bond and certificates of obligation to reach the desired total.
“As we discussed, the structure of the debt service payment would be set up in such a way that it does not impact your budget in a negative way and is able to maintain your 19-cent tax rate on the debt service side,” Ayala said. “We feel pretty confident you’ll be able to maintain your debt service tax rate or lower as time goes on.”
The bulk of the package, $15.7 million, covers necessary utility upgrades, which include a new ground water storage tank, line upgrades, a smart meter and lift station. The second section, numbering “$3 million and change” covers quality of life improvements such as median lights, the bridge citizens have been asking for and a new section of sidewalk.
The quick turnaround on the package has to do first with its perceived necessity and second with the current state legislative session, in which several proposed bills will either take powers from cities or otherwise hamper the process of issuing bonds.
Council member Wes Dautrich asked for an update on those bills.
“House Bill 19 appears to be dead,” Ayala said. “Today there was a vote on Senate Bill 1024 which overhauls the use of notes and certificates of obligation. It was voted down today, but there are still certain provisions that are kind of interesting in other bills. What we discussed last time is you’re going to need to do this anyway, so let's just get ahead of the game.”
Mayor Linda Inman restated the position council took at the previous meeting.
“The general obligation bond are the must haves, the things we have to do, so we definitely need to do that sooner rather than later regardless of whether we’re trying to get ahead [of legislation] or not,” Inman said.
Following Ayala’s presentation, council had no further discussion on either the finance plan or the required notice of intent, which is published in the legal notice section of The Post-Signal in the May 23 issue and will be in the May 30 issue.
Earlier in the meeting, council members Klayton Rutherford and Jeff Doramus reswore their oaths of office following the election, and council later reassigned its Mayor Pro Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, maintaining the original spread of Kelly Nelson and Doramus, respectively.
Providence Village town council member Klayton Rutherford gives his daughter, Elouise Rutherford, a part to play as he swears his oath for another term during the council’s meeting on Tuesday. Basil Gist/The Post-Signal
