Cities

Overview

Texas cities, towns and villages (Cities) issue both tax-supported and revenue debt. Revenue debt also includes sales tax and lease-revenue obligations.

Tax-supported debt financing is used for authorized municipal purposes, such as the acquisition of vehicles, road maintenance equipment, road construction, and maintenance materials; construction of road and bridge improvements; maintaining public safety (police, fire, and EMS); renovation, equipping, and construction of city buildings and utility systems; acquisition of real property; and the acquisition of computer equipment and software. Most of Cities new ad valorem tax debt is authorized under Chapters 1331 and 1502 of the Government Code and Chapter 271 of the Local Government Code.

Revenue debt financing is used for such purposes as acquiring, constructing, enlarging, remodeling, and renovating authorized municipal systems and infrastructure, such as wastewater and sewer systems, toll roads, and airports.

Cities also issue debt that is supported by a combination of tax and revenue for similar purposes listed above. Such debt is categorized as tax-supported.

Sales tax revenue debt is issued by certain cities for such purposes as constructing and improving municipal parks and recreation facilities/entertainment centers as well as hike and bike trails.

Cities can form nonprofit conduit entities to issue debt for the benefit of the city, as well as to finance the acquisition of land and construction of certain correctional facilities. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Chapter 1202.008, the BRB does not receive issuance information for all lease-revenue obligations or conduit issuances. Reported data only reflects the amount of debt issued for certain municipalities.

Debt
Outstanding
- Fiscal Year 2023 -
Tax Supported:
$43,314,692,603
Revenue Supported:
$52,262,832,914
Total Outstanding:
$95,577,525,517
Debt
Issued
- Fiscal Year 2023 -
Tax Supported:
$7,037,231,000
Revenue Supported:
$6,049,688,683
Total Issued:
$13,086,919,683

Issuers of Texas Debt

Showing entries (filtered from total entries)

The fiscal year for the State of Texas runs from September 1 until August 31.

Unless otherwise stated, the data for each chart is as of the fiscal year stated above.

TIP: Click on the legend elements to focus the chart's display.

The chart above shows the purposes for which debt was issued for both tax-supported debt and revenue debt outstanding.

Click here to see a brief description of each purpose type.

The chart above shows the total annual par amount of certificate of obligation (CO) issuances by cities during the last ten years, broken out by purpose. A certificate of obligation is an obligation issued by a city, county or certain hospital districts under subchapter C of Chapter 271 of the Local Government Code to finance public projects. CO debt is paid from ad valorem taxes and/or a combination of revenues available from other sources. A CO issuance does not require voter approval unless a valid petition of 5 percent of the voters requesting an election is presented. See Chapter 5 of the Local Government Annual Report for a discussion on COs.

Click here to see a brief description of each purpose type.