Pflugerville council agrees to delay bond election

Pflugerville City Council voted Feb. 18 to delay a decision on calling a bond election that would have covered road and parks improvements.

Mayor Jeff Coleman asked council members at a Feb. 18 special-called meeting to consider delaying the vote on issuing bonds until later in the year. Coleman cited the cost to call an election and pointed out the city will already be holding an election to fill City Council positions in November.

"We've received an estimate from Travis County that it will cost approximately $50,000 to call an election in May," Coleman said. "If we wait until November, when the state of Texas and the county are already calling elections, our payment will be dramatically lower."

City Manager Brandon Wade also told the council that the city's credit ratings are not conducive to issuing bonds. On Feb. 18, Standard and Poor increased the city's credit rating by one point, while Moody's rating on Pflugerville dropped by two points, a change Wade called very unusual.

"There's a possibility that it may cause us to have a higher interest rate than we otherwise would have had," Wade. "We need to clear the disparity in the credit rating before we go out for any substantial bond issuance."

The city's credit rating could improve after Hawaiian Falls Water and Adventure Park has been open for one season and starts creating revenue for the city.

Despite its decision to delay the entire bond, the council approved starting the design process for improvements to Weiss Lane from Pecan Street to Kelly Lane and East Pecan Street from SH 130 to Cameron Road.