CITY OF BRENHAM HOLDS BUDGET OVERVIEW MEETING TUESDAY

  

After a 3 ½ hour budget overview meeting Tuesday, City of Brenham staff asked the council for their consensus concerning going to the voters for a bond issue for the planned 2022 improvements or doing things the way they have been done the past 26 years and issuing certificates of obligation for the debt.  The City Council was in favor of issuing certificates of obligation for the debt, but trying to inform the voters what they are for though evening town hall meetings.  The last bond issue from the city was in 1994 and that paid for the Lake Somerville water line.  The 2022 city improvements would include a new fire truck, in house and contractor street improvements, Lake Somerville intake improvements, and several sewer projects.  Throwing a monkey wrench into all of this is the Texas Legislature.  The legislature currently has before it House Bill 1869, which would change how certificates of obligation are issued, and has numerous amendments attached to it.  The Texas Legislature regular session ends Monday, May 31st.

City Manager James Fisher reviewed for the group all of the improvements the city would like to make for the next 6 years.  He agreed that certificates of obligation were the way to go, as by the time an election is held and the voters approve a bond, often the cost of the project has increased considerably.  He said the city could hold evening town hall meeting, if the public would show up:

Brenham currently is in the middle of the debt per capita comparison chart.  If the debt is issued as the City of Brenham plans, it would move the city to near the top of the chart.