Stealth Spending

The city uses Certificates of Obligations (CO) to raise money for the city to spend without alerting Georgetown taxpayers or asking their permission via a bond election.  Here is the debt that the city intends to spend this fiscal year.

As can be seen in the chart, over $25M in new debt is planned for this year, $13.7M Utility debt, $4.4M for roads approved by voters, and $7.0M using Certified Obligations.  Only $4.4M of this debt has been explicitly approved by Georgetown voters.   The remainder is issued "under the radar".

The City currently owes $136,015,888 in principal and interest backed by property taxes. According to the Texas Bond Review Board, Georgetown owes $243,290,813 when all debt is considered. including revenue backed debt.

Thus it's easy to see that the City plans on increasing its debt by approximately 11.5% this year.  With a population + inflation growth rate of less than 5% compounded annually, a debt growth of 11.5% in one year seems excessive!

Contact your city council person and tell them to slow down the spending!