Pflugerville City Council authorized the sale of nearly $180 million in bonds July 25, the majority of which stems from a 2020 voter-approved package to fund a variety of capital improvement projects.

Overview

The remaining $103.61 million in general bonds approved by voters was authorized to the market. Those funds will go to transportation projects, park improvements, and the city’s new recreation and senior center. Meanwhile, City Council also authorized the sale of $76 million in certificates of obligation bonds to be invested in a public works facility and other roadwork projects.

Terms to know

General obligation bonds, which allow cities to secure funding for public infrastructure projects, require voter approval. Certificates of obligation bonds also provide municipal governments with funding for capital improvements, but they do not require the approval of voters.


The breakdown

Proposition A from the 2020 bond package includes money for:
  • Intersection improvements
  • Neighborhood street reconstructions
  • Immanuel Road widening
  • FM 685 corridor improvements
  • SH 45 frontage road connections
  • Kelly Lane widening project
Proposition B includes funding for parks and recreation projects, such as:
  • Trail improvements
  • Neighborhood parks
  • More than 20 acres of land acquisition
  • Lake Pflugerville development
  • Expansion of 1849 Park
  • Development of destination playground
Proposition C includes $47.3 million for the development of a new recreation and senior center. Meanwhile, the $76 million in certificates of obligation bonds sold will go to neighborhood street reconstruction and other improvement projects on:
  • Colorado Sand Drive
  • Kelly Lane
  • Cameron Road
  • East Pflugerville Parkway
  • Cele Road
  • Weiss Lane expansion
Also of note

With council’s authorization of the sale, it gives the city’s financial advisor, RBC Capital Markets, the ability to put the bonds out on the market. Dustin Traylor, managing director at RBC Capital Markets, said the bonds could be put for sale as soon as July 27.

Traylor was asked if now was the best time to sell the city’s bonds, as the Federal Reserve increased interest rates again July 26. He said the Fed has indicated it’s reaching the end of the current cycle of rate hikes. However, Traylor also said if the bond market’s prices fluctuate sharply, RBC can hold off on putting the bonds up for sale.


“If every bond deal that we go to market with had the ability to be priced with this type of delegated authority, the market participants would prefer it, because you have the ability to timely enter the market when hopefully there’s just not a lot of turmoil,” Traylor said.