Travis County Commissioners Court
February 28, 2012 (Agenda)
Item 28
>> 28.
receive briefing from county attorney and take appropriate action on resolution approving the issuance of refunding bonds by the Travis County emergency services district number 1.
there is an open court part of this discussion.
that we can have right now.
lad and bart are here.
and we will have the open court discussion and then go into executive session with the other items and this one.
for legal advice.
good morning.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners, I'm lad patillo, not only your financial advisor but the financial advisor to emergency services district no.
1.
in order to effect positive savings on their future debt service, we conducted a refunding bond issue for them.
and they passed a resolution on the 6th of February for 1.63 million in bonds.
when we first set out to do this, we thought we would get around 258 as an interest rate on the deal we got a 199.
a super rate.
and their debt service savings over the next 11 years are about 24,000 a year during the time of the -- of these bonds being outstanding.
when -- when mr. Fowler, bart fowler with mccall parker is with me, the bond counsel for the district, submitted the transcript to the attorney general's office.
the attorney general's office came up with a -- with a -- with a kind of a requirement we've not seen before.
I've been doing these since the mid '90s and I'll let bart tell you about it.
>> sure.
again, my name is bart fowler and I represent the esd no.
1 as bond counsel.
>> last name.
>> fowler, fowler.
>> thank you.
>> as lad mentioned the attorney general called, they were somewhat apologetic, they are now reading the Texas constitutional provision slightly differently than they had in the past.
for emergency services that indicates that the county that they are located in actually levies the tax for them.
in the past what we have done when they have issued bonds, there's a tax levy language in that very similar to what the county uses in their own bonds, that comes before the Commissioners court for your consent and approval, you approve the order that was adopted by the districts for itself.
what the attorney general is now looking for is specific tax levy language to be included in a resolution by the county.
that's what we present and prepared for you this morning.
it's very, very similar to the type of consent that you would normally have for these bonds, but we've had to include that language, take it out of the order,
>> [indiscernible] emergency services district adopted and put it in the resolution that's in front of you for the Commissioners court to adopt.
it's the same language that has been in their previous bond issuecians, we just had to put it in a resolution for the Commissioners court to adopt.
>> it doesn't change our lack of liability for esds.
>> no, I don't believe so it does.
it also is really a replacement of a debt service portion of their 10 cents and a lower levy rate than what they had before.
>> so this is a new interpretation of a
>> [indiscernible] state-wide, I take it.
>> that's right.
this is the first time they have raised this issue on one of our districts and what we have been discussing with them as well as with lad is how we can go in and try to correct this problem, remedy, I don't know if it's a problem, more of a difference of interpretation, how we can correct this in the future, make it easier for the county as well as the attorney general and different boards out there for these districts.
once we get this one put to rest, we'll come back and discuss that and try to work out a solution for you will allf them.
>> judge, I would like to add, as you know from your own refunding bond issuecians, they are all calculated, this is scheduled to close next Tuesday, that's why we're here today.
we -- when we found this out, we had about three weeks, enough time to get on to this agenda so we could get your approval for the closing next Tuesday.
>> the relevant language section 1 a and b?
>> section 1 b, 1 a is very similar to what you have seen for other emergency services districts bond issuances, 1 b has been added.
>> so we have the document that you want us to approve and execute.
>> yes.
>> questions, comments?
>> involves
>> [indiscernible]
>> [indiscernible] company.
>> they served as placement agency.
>> pardon me?
>> they served as placement agency.
for the district but not as underwriter at all.
these bonds were privately placed with the independent investment -- with the independent bankers bank is the same of the bank, the wholesale bank in irving.
>> okay.
>> so the document that you prepared, is that to be signed by the county judge or the Commissioners court.
>> by the county judge and the court.
the can judge and the county clerk both sign it.
>> okay.
questions?
comments?
>> thank you very much.
>> thank you, judge.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
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