Megan Navarro
SAN MARCOS — Hays County is moving forward with some of the projects that were in the 2024 road bond program, after finding another source of funding.
At its Sept. 30 meeting, the Hays County Commissioners Court unanimously approved an order authorizing the issuance and sale of one or more series of Combination Tax and Revenue Certificates of Obligation (COs) in an amount not to exceed $240,000,000 for the construction, design, improvement, extension, expansion, upgrade and development of county roads and the acquisition of land and right-of-way.
This comes after a nearly $440 million road bond was placed on the November 2024 election ballot that aimed to bring 35 projects over the course of 30 years to the county, including 11 in Precinct 1, eight in Precinct 2, six in Precinct 3 and 10 in Precinct 4, according to previous reporting by the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch. Though the bond was passed by the voters, a Travis County judge later deemed it void, stating that the vote to call the election violated the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Due to the commissioners court feeling there is a responsibility to plan for, build and maintain county roads, it opted to move forward with COs that can be issued without voter approval, the issuance of which was approved Sept. 30.
“This is the next step, setting the delegation to price the issue, which means closing would occur about three weeks after that, and that’s when you would receive proceeds from that. As you also authorized previously, I believe one or two court meetings ago, you also authorized the application for bond ratings for investors to use to assess the credit quality of the county,” explained David White Miller, financial advisor. “… Standard & Poor's and Fitch both affirm the outstanding AA Plus bond ratings independently of each other. Those will be used by potential investors to assess credit worthiness. AA Plus is one notch from AAA. That's almost as high as you can get.”
He continued to state that the county was informed that there was no downward pressure on the rating, but, if anything, there was some discussion of upward pressure because of “strong financials, strong economy, well-managed debt levels and the management of the county.”
The road projects that were approved as part of the COs are:
Precinct 1
• Old Bastrop Highway / CR 266 - Centerpoint Road to Rattler Road
• Cotton Gin Road / CR 129 - Bonanza Street to SH 21
• FM 2001 East Interim - Graef Road to Southeast of SH 21
• William Pettus Road / CR 238 - FM 110 to SH 21
• High Road / CR 127 - East of Goforth Road to SH 21
• Leah Avenue - CR 269 to Cottonwood Parkway
• Dairy Road - Bunton Lane to Cotton Gin Road (CR 129)
• Goforth Road - Bunton Lane to Bebee Road / High Road
• Bunton Lane / CR 153 - Violet Lane to SH 21 at Gristmill Road
• RM 150 East Preliminary Design - Precinct 1 Boundary to SH 21
Precinct 2
• Windy Hill Road Interim - Purple Martin Avenue to FM 2001
• Windy Hill Road Roundabout - Windy Hill at Shadow Creek Boulevard
• Windy Hill Road Ultimate - Purple Martin Avenue to FM 2001
• FM 2001 Gap - FM 2001 West to Existing FM 2001
• Hillside Terrace - IH-35 to FM 2001
• Goforth Road - CR 158 to RM 150
• RM 150 East Preliminary Design - Lehman Road to Precinct 2 Boundary
Precinct 3
• Centerpoint Road - IH-35 to FM 2349 / Hunter Road
• Old Kyle Road - RM 12 to RM 3237
• Yarrington Road (RM 150, FM 110) Extension Segment 1 Interim - West of Arroyo Ranch to Old Stagecoach Road at RC 16
• Yarrington Road (RM 150, FM 110) Extension Segment 2 Interim - I-35 to Old Stagecoach Road
• Dripping Springs Southwest Connection - US 290 to Precinct 3 Boundary
Precinct 4
• Darden Hill Road / CR 162 Phase 2 - East of Sawyer Ranch Road to RM 1826
• Darden Hill Road Extension - RM 150 West of Springwood Road to West of Sawyer Ranch
• RM 150 / RM 12 Intersection Safety Improvements - RM 150 at RM 12 Intersection
• Fitzhugh Road / CR 101 - RM 12 to Travis County Line
• Dripping Springs Southwest Connection - Precinct 4 Boundary to RM 12
• Sawyer Ranch Road Pedestrian Walkway - Meadow Creek Drive to Darden Hill Road
• Sawyer Ranch Road - US 290 to Darden Hill Road
• Old San Antonio Road Design/Construction Participation with City of Buda - Main Street to Travis County Line
Commissioner Walt Smith said that bringing these road projects to fruition is a long time coming, with his voters having waited for years.
“I can't express how concerned I am over getting these projects on the ground in a timely fashion. I know y'all are tired of hearing me say, 'I'm going to have 5,000 kids on one road by 2028,' but we are. And this is an important step in getting us through that process,” Smith said. “[I] can't wait to work with local leaders who have pushed to ensure that these move forward in a timely manner.”
Commissioner Morgan Hammer thanked all of the staff who have helped in the process to ensure that they have taken their due diligence to come out positive. She added that the county will review what needs to be done to alleviate any concerns that people have, especially as it relates to the environment.
“We have a lot of citizens concerned from environmental perspectives on some of the projects and what we'll do as the county is we'll make sure that all of our due diligence is done,” she said. “All of the environmental feasibility studies are done, so I will take extra time and effort to make sure those things do happen, just so it can ease some concerns people might have.”
Hays County estimates the tax levy will cause a tax rate increase of $0.02 per $100 assessed value, upon issuance.
Hays County Commissioners Court meets next at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14.
