West Lake Hills City Council continued progress on a possible $15 million to $20 million Nov. 5 bond election during a June 26 regular meeting.

The capital improvement bond would fund necessary road and drainage projects throughout the city. Those projects currently include roadway and drainage repairs on Redbud Trail and Camp Craft Road.

Each individual project will require a separate ballot proposition for voters, according to bond counsel Jerry Kyle.

City Council is working toward a March 2020 bond delivery date following the November election, according to the city's proposed timeline.

Council provided an overview of the bond’s possible repayment schedule. The debt services of the bond will be repaid annually with interest repayments made semiannually.

Debt services will be repaid beginning in fiscal year 2021 through the city’s interest and sinking section of residents' tax rates, according to council information. Council members discussed the most desirable repayment term options ranging from 20 to 30 years. The highest tax rate increase, set at $0.0471 for FY 2021, would be the result of a 20-year repayment term.

Financial adviser Blake Roberts predicts a 4.5% interest rate for West Lake Hills; however, he said he believes "a 30-year repayment term is actually very affordable for West Lake Hills. Given the current market, a 3.5% interest rate is a possibility."

The city is required to receive a credit rating score from a selection of national agencies. Options include Moody's Corp., Standards & Poor's Financial Services, Fitch Ratings or a combination, Roberts said. These ratings will be secured after the election results.

West Lake Hills will continue to make progress regarding the bond election in upcoming weeks. The city will hold various community engagement programs to improve voter outreach and provide further bond information prior to the Nov. 5 election date.

West Lake Hills City Council appoints four residents to the bond advisory committee

Mayor Linda Anthony and City Council selected four West Lake Hills community members to serve on the bond advisory committee.

Those members include Virgil Flathouse, James Vaughan, Gordon Bowman and Grant Stanis.

The volunteer committee will serve to oversee and provide professional opinion regarding future projects proposed by the City Council, according to city information.

As stated by the committee application, the role of a bond advisory committee member is to offer bond guidance and will not impede the authority of City Council. Committee members were selected to review West Lake Hills infrastructure projects based on their expertise in engineering, construction or finance.

Virgil Flathouse, who served on the Eanes ISD bond committee, was appointed as chairperson of the committee. City Council has the option to appoint one more committee member.