Capital Projects: Why Does the City Issue Bonds?

The City uses bonds as a funding source for capital projects, which are improvements or additions to the City's physical assets. Capital projects can be further categorized into land, buildings, improvements other than buildings, and infrastructure, which includes roads, sidewalks, drainage, bridges, etc. Capital costs typically consist of preliminary design, final design, and construction, and may also involve the acquisition of land or right-of-way (easements). 

How are Projects Identified?

In May 2021 City Council authorized staff to work with Freese & Nichols to prepare a 5 year Capital Improvement Plan. The CIP is a long-range plan that identifies capital projects, provides a planning schedule, and identifies options for financing the plan. The program provides a link between the City’s comprehensive plan, various master plans, the annual budget, and the financial forecast. The City seeks the involvement of various stakeholders during the CIP development process because the City recognizes the invested interest by many stakeholders in maintaining all that makes New Braunfels a great place to live and work. The City considers input from citizens, Departmental Staff, Boards and Commissions, and City Council in the CIP preparation. 

Next Steps?

In December 2021, City Council appointed 24 members to the 2023 Bond Advisory Committee. The Committee met 8 times from January to April 2022 to review projects on the Capital Improvement Plan. They are tasked with identifying projects that meet both staff and community priorities and creating a recommended project list for City Council to consider for a proposed 2023 Bond. City Council will review these recommendations and direct staff on projects that need to be under further development.

In April, 2022, the committee recommended projects to undergo preliminary design. City staff selected consultants and each project was developed and an updated cost estimate prepared. This process included a series of public meetings held in July and August to incorporate resident feedback into the preliminary design. 

Beginning in September, the committee reconvened  for a series of meetings to determine how they would rank the projects and begin reviewing the updated designs, identified constraints and new cost estimates. On October 17, 2022 the committee formed an official recommendation to City Council which included 20 Projects totaling $183 Million. Those projects will now be considered by City Council with the list being reduced to $140 Million which is the estimated capacity without a tax rate impact for a proposed May 2023 bond election. Projects not selected will remain on the City's Capital Improvement Plan for potential future development with other funding sources.

The projects recommended by the committee are listed below: