STAFF REPORT
The Hays County Commissioners Court heard welcome news Tuesday from its financial consultant, Dan Wegmiller of Specialized Public Finance Inc., who reported that the county was given excellent interest rates on the sale of general obligation bonds it sold in June to fund voter-approved roads and parks.
Interest rates ranged from 3.86 to 4.2 percent, far lower than the 5 to 6 percent estimated when the bonds were approved by voters in 2007 and 2008. The county sold $42,115,000 in Pass-Through Revenue and Unlimited Tax Bonds; $36,835,000 in Unlimited Tax Road Bonds and $9,970,000 in Limited Tax Bonds. The bonds sold to investors in less than three hours, which Wegmiller said was due to a lack of municipal bonds nationwide, making Hays County’s excellent credit quality an attractive investment.
Wegmiller noted that two rating services, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, maintained the county’s strong AA bond rating and rated the county as “stable,” which he said was an “excellent rating in this economic climate when many similar entities nationwide have had their ratings drop. Hays County competes nationwide for those ratings.”
Fitch stated that “Hays County’s financial position is solid, aided by prudent financial management and conservative budgeting.” Both S&P and Fitch noted that the overall high debt load in Hays County was primarily due to debt loads incurred by entities other than county government, which has a moderate direct debt level.
“An AA rating is eighth-highest out of 10 commercial ratings,” Wegmiller said, “and very impressive.”
