News

Judge Doyal: County Prepared to Reduce Outstanding Debt

By Hello Woodlands | January 6, 2018

Conroe, TX – County Judge Craig Doyal has announced the county is prepared to pay off another $17 million in outstanding debt, thanks to a recent $16.7 million payment from the state’s Pass-Through Toll Program.

Should commissioners agree at Commissioners Court on Tuesday, the county will make a cash defeasance of its outstanding Pass-Through Toll Revenue Bonds of $16,711,881, combined with another $965,000 from the county’s debt service funds, to completely pay off the debt from the pass-through program. Under that program, the county has been receiving reimbursements for vehicle miles traveled on certain 2005 road bond projects, such as FM 1488.

That will drop the county’s outstanding debt to $427,120,000 – a reduction of 13 percent since 2012, when the county’s outstanding debt stood at $491,995,941.

“I think it is remarkable the county is able to further reduce its outstanding debt, given our rapid growth, and the addition of debt from the $280 million voter-approved road bonds passed in 2015,” Judge Doyal said. “It demonstrates that Montgomery County is being fiscally responsible and listening to the needs of taxpayers.”

Judge Doyal credited Commissioner James Noack with the initial idea of using the pass-through toll revenue to accelerate the county’s efforts to pay down its debt, and applauded commissioners for joining with those efforts. “I appreciate Commissioner Noack bringing this idea to the table, and I commend our full Commissioners Court for working to reduce our debt whenever possible.”

John Robuck, managing director of Texas Public Finance for BOK Financial Securities, Inc., said the county’s effective management of debt is among a number of factors that enabled the county to obtain its Aaa credit rating from Moody’s, one of only 10 counties in Texas to achieve that status. Robuck serves as the county’s financial adviser.