Austin, Texas, officials are heading to court to seek validation for a controversial issuance of bonds to help fund a multi-billion-dollar light-rail project.
The Austin City Council on Thursday authorized the move, as well as amendments to an agreement with the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP), a corporation created by the city and its Capital Metro Transportation Authority to spearhead Project Connect’s development and financing.
On Friday, ATP’s board approved the amendments, along with
The bonds would be paid off with a portion of the city’s operation and maintenance property taxes that Austin
In his Feb. 9 update, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said
“Because of this power and because of the need for governmental entities to issue debt in an expeditious manner, Texas law allows for what’s known as a ‘bond validation’ action to let the city or other entity file in court to get an expedited review of the proposed bond issuance,” Watson wrote.
A Texas Attorney General opinion in May said state law “
Bond financing for Project Connect is already being targeted in
Bill Aleshire, attorney for the taxpayer plaintiffs, said he expects the lawsuit will be consolidated into the bond validation action, adding he welcomes the move because it will lead to a speedier decision on the debt.
“If they get shut down in court and told ‘no you can’t issue those bonds,’ I think that would be actually a wonderful thing even for those who support light-rail here in Austin because their only alternative is to do exactly what we told them to do … and that would be to turn back around and go to the voters with a phased plan,” he said.