La Salle takes next step in $50m certificates sale for new facilities

A long-term plan to build several new public facilities in La Salle County came a step closer to realization this week with a consensus among commissioners to publish a declaration of intent to issue $50 million in certificates of obligation.

The new 30-year debt includes a commitment made earlier this year by the county commissioners to pay for approximately $7 million in funds dedicated to the complete resurfacing of the Martinez Park ballfields in artificial turf, a project that has already begun, in addition to other facility improvements.

Commissioners expect to accomplish their plan without levying a higher tax rate and took steps this week to lower the rate for next year by two cents.

According to financial consultant David Gonzalez, addressing the court Monday, September 8, La Salle presently stands in a position to secure lower interest rates in the final months of this year if the federal government announces three rate decreases between now and November.

A further $400,000 has been earmarked for the establishment of new offices for the Precinct 1 justice of the peace, and those may be moved to a building on North Main Street in downtown Cotulla recently purchased by the county as office space, conference rooms and a public events center.

The building in question is the former Super S grocery store that has also been used as offices for an energy industry company.

The county agreed to the purchase last month.

Approximately $42 million in remaining certificates revenues will be divided between the county’s four precincts, the consultant said, and may be used for facility construction, roads, bridges and parks.

Commissioners asked on Monday whether the expenditures may include vehicles and equipment. Gonzalez said the categories must be added to the list of proposed uses in order to be eligible.

“The bonds have to be specific projects,” County Judge Leodoro Martinez III said. “The money has to be used for these things only.”

“Keep the wording general,” Gonzalez advised. “You’re throwing it all in there and using it whenever you need. You can expend that money on the projects as you see fit.”

La Salle has been issued its valuations for the coming year in properties and mineral rights, and the overall estimate for the entire county is at least $2.6 billion higher than for the past year.

The present valuation puts La Salle County at $9.6 billion in properties and minerals.

The rise in property values, both Gonzalez and Judge Martinez said, enables the county to generate higher revenues from its annual taxes while lowering the actual rate charged per $100 of value and while closing out several of its long-term debt payment plans, which are being refinanced.

During the coming three years, according to Gonzalez, the county’s annual debt service will drop from over $7 million to $2.5 million.

“You have debts coming off the books,” Gonzalez said on Monday. “Where you were previously looking at refinancing $19 million, you’re now only refinancing $12 million.

“You can issue all of this at no tax rate increase,” he added.

Commissioners agreed later the same day to submit a 2026 tax rate of 44.9 cents per $100 of taxable value, a rate two cents lower than in the past year.

The rate was among the options recommended by county finance officer and consultant Jorge Flores, relayed in court Monday by Attorney Keith Franklin, legal counsel to the commissioners.

“This is the voter-approved tax rate,” Atty. Franklin said. “Even at this rate, you will collect more because property values themselves have gone up.”

In their talks on Monday with design-build project consultants McKinstry, consultants told representative Gabriella Fierro that they have put a new food pantry at the top of their list of priorities for new construction.

The county also hopes to build a new fire station on the west side of the Union Pacific railroad line in Cotulla.

Other projects targeted with revenues from the certificates of obligation include a youth recreation facility, which none of the elected officials identified as being positioned in a specific precinct.

The countywide facility development projects will require commissioners to agree on surrendering some of their allocated funds from the certificates sale, thereby limiting the amount remaining to each for roads, bridges, vehicles and other equipment.

The court had earlier chosen McKinstry in a call for qualifications from companies capable of both designing and building new structures or repurposing older buildings.

“There is no contract to approve here,” Fierro said of a proposed master services agreement. “Which projects do you want to work on faster?”

Commissioner Erasmo Ramirez said on Monday he has concerns over unspecified pricing by the design-build consultant, noting that the company’s projections include a five-percent annual hike in rates.

“We don’t even give our employees five percent every year,” the commissioner said.

The rates, according to Fierro, are adjusted for rising materials costs over an extended period.

“You approved them as part of the request for qualifications process,” Atty. Franklin said of the court’s agreement to engage McKinstry. “You still have multiple opportunities to figure out what you’re going to have them do for the county.”

“We are not at a point yet to have a contract negotiated,” Fierro said. “Our list of your priorities right now includes the food pantry, the fire station, an appraisal district building, and a youth recreation center.”

Atty. Franklin told commissioners that they would be apprised of the complete cost of a project, including McKinstry’s fee, before agreeing to launch any construction.

“You can bet that about twelve percent of a full-blown project is the design-and-build fee,” the attorney said.

The county judge reiterated that he believes a food pantry will be at the top of the court’s list, but added that a site for the building has yet to be selected, and the same applies to a site for the proposed fire station.

“We are still scouting,” Martinez said on Monday. “There is nothing in concrete yet.”