TPFA's $96M GO Sale and $63M Nacogdoches Offering Lead Week's Slate

DALLAS — A $96 million general obligation bond issue from the Texas Public Finance Authority and a $63 million retirement facility revenue bond sale by the Nacogdoches Health Facilities Development Corp. are expected to hit the market this week. Citi will lead the negotiated sale for the TPFA. Coastal Securities Corp. is the financial adviser to the issuer and Andrews Kurth is bond counsel.Proceeds from the Series 2007 bonds will be used to repair a state hospital in Galveston and upgrade the state cemetery, according to Standard & Poor’s, which assigned a AA rating to the issue. Moody’s Investors Service assigned its Aa1 rating to the sale, and affirmed the rating on the issuer’s $8.7 billion of outstanding debt.The debt is secured by state sales tax collections, which rose 12% in fiscal 2006, according to analysts. Standard & Poor’s said the AA rating reflects the state’s “steadily growing and diversifying economy, adequate revenue growth and financial position, and low tax-supported debt burden.”Oppenheimer is lead manager for the negotiated sale by the Nacogdoches HFDC in East Texas, which is selling the debt on behalf of its Timber Springs project. Southwest Securities is the financial adviser. Three Texas school districts plan to bring debt to market this week in issues sales backed by the state’s triple-A rated Permanent School Fund.The Royal Independent School District will issue $33 million of GO bonds at some point this week in negotiated sale led by RBC Capital Markets.The district serves about 2,000 students in four schools about 30 miles west of downtown Houston.Standard & Poor’s assigned an A-minus underlying rating to the sale. Analysts said officials project double-digit enrollment growth for the next few years, as the Houston suburbs continue to expand.The Santa Rosa Independent School District may bring $9.2 million of unlimited-tax refunding bonds to market this week in a negotiated sale led by First Southwest Co. Estrada Hinojosa & Co. Inc. is sole underwriter for the issue by the South Texas border district.Chief financial officer Lucio Mendoza said the refunding is expected to result in savings of about 5%, adding that they hope to get the bonds to market by Dec. 31 depending on market conditions.The enrollment at Santa Rosa ISD’s four campuses has remained flat at about 1,200 for a decade.The Whitesboro Independent School District is offering $9 million of GOs at some point this week in a negotiated sale led by RBC. The North Texas district serves students at four campuses near the Red River and the Oklahoma border.The growing suburb of Sachse, northeast of Dallas, is bringing about $6.2 million of GO bonds to market today following an upgrade from Moody’s.Analysts raised the city’s credit rating to A2 from A3, citing a large and expanding tax base, solid financial operations, and a favorable debt position.“We’re certainly hopeful the upgrade results in some interest rate savings,” said Alan Dickerson, the city’s finance director. “Our preliminary schedule shows a rate around 3.5% to about 4.5% and maybe will end up a bit lower than that.”Morgan Keegan & Co. is sole manager for the negotiated sale. First Southwest is the financial adviser to Sachse and McCall, Parkhurst & Horton is bond counsel.Dickerson said the bonds are expected to be insured by Financial Security Assurance Inc., and roughly half the proceeds will fund the widening of a two-lane road into a four-lane thoroughfare.He said commercial and retail development should continue to expand as Sachse improves roads and access to state highways.Moody’s analysts said the city’s taxable assessed valuation has climbed steadily this decade, averaging 8.2% growth annually to $1.1 billion for fiscal 2008. Analysts expect the completion of the State Highway 190 tollway, which is projected for September 2011, to drive commercial development of the area. Voters passed a nearly $38 million bond package in November 2006. Dickerson said Sachse plans to issue the debt over the next three years with much of the proceeds being used to fund continued road expansions.Dickerson also said the city has experienced a bit a swoon in the housing market lately, but only enough to somewhat cool the growth. Moody’s said city officials expect to issue fewer than 200 residential-building permits this year, which is down from 282 in 2006.“We still have inventory available and a bunch of conscientious builders that are forging forward to complete new homes and sell existing ones,” he said.Sachse’s estimated 2008 population of nearly 19,000 is more than double the 2000 Census tally.