The City has applied for a zero interest loan from the Texas Water Development Board for the Covington Woods Drainage Improvements project approved by voters in the 2019 GO bond package. The GO bonds include $3 million in funding for the project. Recent inflationary increases have pushed the cost estimate for the project to $4 million, and the FY2023 budget reflects supplemental funding of $1 million for the project, plus $100,000 in issuance costs. All funding will be provided through the TWDB Loan, however since the GO authorization only covers $3 million of the loan, a taxable Certificate of Obligation (CO) will be issued concurrently for $1.1 million.
The TWDB Board met on January 19th and approved the City's loan application for the project. TWDB would like to fund the loan within 3 months, which puts the issuance in April 2023.
To meet public notice requirements for the issuance of CO's, Resolution No. 23-01 authorizes staff to publish notice of the City's intent to issue the CO's. The notice must be published once per week for two consecutive weeks, with the first publication at least 45 days prior to the sale. Notices will be published on February 15th and 22nd with the sale scheduled for April 4, 2023. Notice must also be posted on the city's website continuously from the date of first publication to the sale date.
Staff recommends City Council approval of Resolution No. 23-01.