Counties

Overview

Counties issue two types of debt, tax-supported and revenue, which also includes lease-revenue.

Tax-supported debt is used for authorized county purposes such as the acquisition of vehicles, road maintenance equipment, road construction, and maintenance materials; construction of road and bridge improvements; renovation, equipping, and construction of county buildings and jails; acquisition of real property; and the acquisition of computer equipment and software. Most of county new ad valorem tax debt is authorized under Chapters 1301 and 1473 of the Government Code and Chapter 271 of the Local Government Code.

Revenue debt is used for authorized county purposes such as acquiring, constructing, enlarging, remodeling, and renovating wastewater and sewer systems, toll roads, and hospitals.

Counties create nonprofit conduit entities to issue debt for projects that benefit the county.

Debt
Outstanding
- Fiscal Year 2023 -
Tax Supported:
$13,866,716,311
Revenue Supported:
$2,419,269,385
Total Outstanding:
$16,285,985,696
Debt
Issued
- Fiscal Year 2023 -
Tax Supported:
$1,660,092,188
Revenue Supported:
$163,972,000
Total Issued:
$1,824,064,188

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.

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The chart above shows the total annual par amount of certificate of obligation (CO) issuances by counties 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.

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