Brenham City Council Selects Specialized Public Finance As FA

DALLAS — The Brenham City Council signed a contract with Specialized Public Finance Inc. yesterday, retaining the city’s longtime financial adviser as he launches the new firm.

Garry Kimball has been advising the city since the mid-1990s as senior vice president at First Southwest Co.

Last week, Kimball and five other First Southwest executives formed the new firm just ahead of the Dallas-based company’s merger with PlainsCapital Corp. that was announced earlier this week.

Specialized Public Finance plans to cater to mid-sized municipalities and special districts across state.

Brenham council members said the decision to stay with Kimball wasn’t reflective of First Southwest’s performance, but due to the work he’s done with the city, according to published reports.

Officials also sought a seamless transition as the city plans to offer $6 million of certificates of obligation as early as next week. Proceeds will fund a new water tower on the west side of the town, which is roughly halfway between Austin and Houston. Brenham’s population of about 15,000 is up about 11% since the start of the decade.

In July, Standard & Poor’s upgraded the city’s underlying credit rating two notches to A-plus from A-minus, citing a steady financial performance over the past four years and a “very strong” general-fund balance.

Fitch Ratings rates the city’s GO debt at A and revised its outlook to positive from stable in August, due to significant improvement in general fund performance and “a demonstrated shift towards strong financial management practices, including the preparation of multi-year projections.”

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