Dallas Hopes to Soon Issue Hundreds of Millions in Debt for Street Repairs, Flood Control and Other Projects

Street re-dos, city facility repairs and parks projects could get started late this year or in January if voters approve the November bond package.Assistant City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry said the city could kick off the 2017 bond package by issuing in the ballpark of $100 million in debt late this year or early next year. That would come if voters approve the 10 bond propositions -- collectively worth $1.05 billion before interest -- on the Nov. 7 ballot.Before the 2017 bond package projects begin, however, city officials first plan to issue $350 million in bonds to help refinance current debt and complete some of the remaining projects that were in the 2006 and 2012 bond packages.The flurry of debt issuances will come after a worrisome few years in which the three major credit ratings agencies had dinged Dallas' credit score because of the city's pension woes. The tumult factored into the City Council's decision to delay the bond package until November rather than asking voters for the money in May, when city officials were still hammering out a fix for the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System in the state Legislature.  Continue reading...