Belton issues $17.9 million bond for projects

May 1, 2025

By David Stone

Belton Journal

After weeks of delays, a $17.9 million certificate of obligation bond was is sued Tuesday morning to fund several major projects, including Belton’s share of the $71.2 million expansion of the wastewater treatment plant shared with Temple.

The original plan was to issue the bonds April 8, but the Council followed Belton Financial Director Mike Rodgers’ recommendation to delay because of increases in municipal bond interest rates.

Council voted to move the issuance until April 22, but again Rodgers recommended a delay — this time for one week — because Georgetown issued $120 million in bonds on April 22, and a delay would avoid competing with Georgetown for investors.

In addition to funding Belton’s share of the wastewater treatment plant expansion, the bonds will pay for more than $1.75 million of vital improvements to the primary Belton lift station, and the second phase of the Loop 121 expansion project that requires the relocation of utilities at a cost of $2.3 million.

Also, the Belton Fire Department also will purchase a ladder truck for $1.7 million, and the city will spend $750,000 to purchase the former Miller Heights Elementary School property. Each of these projects will be included in the bond. Even with a $6.6 million cash contribution by the city, an additional $17.7 million is necessary to complete these projects.

Belton’s 25-percent share of the wastewater plant project is $17.8 million. The project will expand the capacity of the existing facility, located off FM 93 between Belton and Temple, from 10 million gallons a day to 16 million gallons, according to Belton city spokesman Paul Romer.

“Expanding the plant is necessary to meet the demands of population growth in Temple and Belton,” Romer said. “The first phase of the expansion has already occurred — it replaced and expanded the headworks facility, which is where sewage enters the treatment plant.”

Romer said the lift station moves wastewater from a lower elevation to a higher elevation.

“The way it typically works is wastewater flows into a wet well, which collects the sewage. When the wastewater reaches a certain level, pumps are activated to push the sewage through a main to a higher point in the system before it finally reaches the treatment plant.”

Romer said improvements funded by the bond include two new force main lines from the lift station to the plant.

The city is purchasing the former Miller Heights Elementary School, an 8.36-acre property in Southeast Belton near Belle Oaks Apartments. The property includes a 40,000-square-foot facility that will immediately address space constraints for public safety operation, according to Romer.

“The site will serve as a police substation, reducing response times in one of the city’s most frequently dispatched areas,” Romer said.

The former school also will house police victim services and community programs, code compliance offices, evidence and equipment storage, Fire Department administrative personnel and Belton Fire Marshal operations.

“We have already ordered the fire engine and paid for the school, so the bonds will reimburse the city for those purchases,” Romer said.

“The expansion of the treatment plant could start by September,” he added. “The lift station would need to go through the bidding process, so that is undetermined as of right now.”

Texas state law generally requires local governments to seek voter approval before issuing debt that will be repaid from tax revenues. Every year, in May and November, voters are asked to approve new bond debt for the construction of city and county buildings, hospitals, schools, water infrastructure and much more.

Certificates of Obligation, however, is an exception to this rule. Local governments can use CO’s to fund public works without voter approval. They provide local governments with flexibility when they need to finance projects quickly.

“The bond debt for the utility projects will be paid back through utility rates,” Romer said. “Funds that were scheduled to be allocated for a new fire engine will instead be allocated to pay the debt service on the engine. The balance would be included in the future debt portion of the tax rate.”