Brittany Kelley
KYLE — Kyle City Council discussed the issuance of bonds and potential budget amendments at its Aug. 5 meeting.
Issuance of bonds
Council was presented with two items regarding the issuance of bonds, one for certificates of obligations (CO) and one with general obligation bonds (GO). According to The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, COs can be issued without voter approval, while GOs must be approved by voters.
According to Mark McLiney with SAMCO Capital Markets, $75,050,000 in COs were to be issued to fund several projects, including a water utility system, wastewater towers, roundabouts, park improvements and citywide intersection improvements.
Following this, he explained that GOs approved by voters in 2022 also went out to market at the city’s direction. In 2023, $45 million, of the $294 million approved, was issued, leaving $249 million for the road projects remaining.
Agenda documents stated that to cover the current capital improvement projects (CIP), $45,900,000 in GO bonds are needed.
“It’s additional debt that we’re accruing with this particular [bond] issuance,” explained city manager Bryan Langley. “Then, we pay those off over a 30 year period.”
“Combined with the COs, the debt service on the COs, which is going to be the next item, it’s going to take the total tax rate to $0.59588,” said McLiney, who stated that an additional $4 million in principal was able to be included, which will lower future debt and the total repayment over the life of the bonds. “If approved by council, we will have the funds in the bank Aug. 27.”
Stephanie Leibe, city financial advisor, stated that the $0.5999 rate given to voters at the time of the 2022 election was “informational." Now, based on the additional $120,950,000 in bond issuances, the rate is estimated to be $0.59588.
Mayor Travis Mitchell explained that the tax rate could have been lower, but that the trade off would have been delaying the road bond projects for years, which would then make them more expensive: “From a financial standpoint, it is, I would say, very wise the way that we’re handling it.”
Both items passed unanimously.
Budget amendments
Following the city manager's presentation at the July 26 budget workshop, council was able to offer amendments for the upcoming fiscal year. Council member Miguel Zuniga began the discussion for possible amendments at the Aug. 5 meeting by questioning whether there were still line items in the budget for the Hays Caldwell Women’s Shelter and the Hays County Food Bank because the community uses these resources heavily and he would like to continue to support them. According to Langley, both items are still in the budget at $15,000 each, but that last year it was raised to $30,000. So, if council wants to raise this again, it could be discussed at a later date.
Moving the discussion toward the police department budget was council member Bear Heiser.
“If you look at sidewalk maintenance and connectivity, I look at streets and transportation as something that kind of aligns with sidewalk maintenance and connectivity, [so] I would like to see more,” explained Heiser, who stated that the $280,000 being funded for drone safety and K9 officers could be allocated to rebuilding sidewalks. “I don’t want to see us investing more money into a program where we don’t have an established policy.”
Mitchell then emphasized that the drone cameras are not the same thing as license plate readers, which is what residents were concerned about, as it simply provides a faster way to get eyes on the scene. Despite this, Heiser continued to explain his hesitation, as he said Flock Safety would most likely be chosen as the vendor, since the city already works with them, adding that he has “significant concerns about them as a company.”
Commenting on the potential defunding of the K9 offices was council member Michael Tobias. He stated that there have been recent scenarios that K9 units would have been beneficial and that it could prove useful in the future, but that, regarding cameras, the only reason people are so hesitant about it is because it’s related to the police department.
“They had no issues with cameras at Walmart. They don’t have an issue with giving your ID to the school attendance desk to take your kid out because where does that information go when you give that ID to that person there,” asked Tobias. “It always comes back because it’s the police, but that’s just unfortunately maybe the sentiment that we have in this country or in these communities: ‘How can we trust our public servants with technology.’ I think that’s the bigger issue, but I think going forward on the budget, I would like to try to keep as much as we can of what our [Kyle Police Department] Chief [Jeff] Barnett is requesting.”
Council member Robert Rizo was also in support of the drones, even suggesting purchasing two, rather than funding the K9 officers, but he did agree with Heiser that he would like more information on where the footage and information would be stored.
Langley suggested that council wait until further information is able to be provided by both the chief and the city finance director prior to making budget amendments, so discussion will continue at the next council meeting.
Kyle City Council will meet next Aug. 19.
