Corpus Christi Voters Face $90 Million Bond Decision

DALLAS — Voters in the coastal Texas city of Corpus Christi will decide on $90.4 million of general obligation bonds in a referendum considered Tuesday by the City Council.

The City Council must adopt the final election ordinance by Aug. 14 to put the measure on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The referendum will include $55 million for streets, $16 million for parks, $9 million for economic development efforts, $4.8 million for service center projects, $2.3 million for museums and library improvements, $1.8 million for city hall upgrades and $1.5 million of public health and safety projects.

Assistant city manager Oscar Martinez said the ballot ordinance could not specify which propositions could be financed without a property tax increase.

Martinez said the ballot propositions cannot distinguish between which projects would require a tax increase and which do not. However, he said, that can be communicated in the educational material distributed to voters before the election.

City manager Ron Olson said the current tax rate of $5.71 per $1,000 of assessed value would allow the city to issue $55 million of new debt without a tax increase.

Corpus Christi's $354 million of outstanding GO debt is rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service and AA-minus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

Corpus Christ is currently on a four-year bond election cycle. Voters approved $95 million of GO bonds in 2004 and $135 million in 2008. The 2008 bond package devoted $105 million to street work.

Sponsors of a proposed beachside water park asked that a proposition allocating $60 million of the bond proceeds to the 34-acre project be removed from consideration. Trey McCampell, a spokesman for Destination Bayfront, said the nonprofit group is developing a business plan but will not have it completed until fall. The group hopes to raise $15 million for park maintenance and operations.

"We do not want to get in the way of the critical infrastructure need of taking care of the streets," he said. "We need to focus on what's important for the community."

McCampbell urged the council to limit the referendum to $55 million that can be supported without property tax increase. Bonds for other issues, including Destination Bayfront, could be decided in a special election, he said. Voters could then be clear on what they would pay in property taxes for the non-street projects.

The $60 million of proceeds would finance the park complex, with the private group raising $15 million for operations and maintenance. "I think that will be sustainable," McCampbell said.

Corpus Christi's assessed tax based totaled $14 billion in fiscal 2012 after declining 3.7% in fiscal 2011. The tax base rose by an average 9.1% a year from 2006 to 2010. Its population is 307,000.