Council to consider a notice of intention to issue up to $3,000,000 in certificates of obligation for lead…

Item 8.d on the Oct. 13 agenda is Resolution R2026-21, directing publication of a notice of intention to issue up to $3,000,000 in Tax and Utility System Surplus Revenue Certificates of Obligation, Taxable Series 2027, for utility system improvements. The staff memo says the proceeds would finance the replacement of public and private water service lines made of lead or galvanized pipe, to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions and Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, which require 100% lead pipe replacement within 10 years beginning in 2027, and that city staff have set a goal of completion by December 2027, subject to the Texas Water Development Board's review schedule. The memo says the TWDB invited the city in May 2024 to apply for funding of up to $14,982,440 at 51% principal forgiveness and 49% loan, that the application has been approved, and that after the inventory phase the estimated replacement cost was reduced to approximately $6 million, so the certificates are capped at $3,000,000 as the city's 49% share. The certificates would be sold directly to the TWDB at a rate set by its Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program and carry a taxable rate because private service lines are included; debt service would be paid solely from Water Utility rate revenues, with no property tax revenue and no effect on the Interest & Sinking tax rate. Of the $3,000,000, approximately $2,872,500 would go to the project fund, $67,500 to costs of issuance and $60,000 to the TWDB loan origination fee. The financial advisor's preliminary estimate, at a 5.00% rate over 20 years, is annual debt service of approximately $245,000, total debt service of approximately $4,741,583, and a first-year interest-only payment in FY27 of approximately $94,583. If approved, the notice would be published in the Weatherford Democrat on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, the ordinance authorizing issuance is anticipated before the council on Dec. 15, 2026, and closing with the TWDB is anticipated on or about Jan. 14, 2027.

Source: City of Weatherford Oct. 13, 2026 council agenda, item 8.d, and agenda report 2026-1089-AR (Rick Shaffer, Director of Water Utilities), read 5:20 a.m. Oct. 8