As the Liberty County Development Authority looks at financing its proposed wastewater treatment plant, its members are asking the county commission for some backup — in a worst-case scenario. The LCDA likely will issue bonds to cover the cost of building the treatment plant, but it has a couple of hurdles to negotiate. First, it still needs to finish its audits and there are existing bonds that need to be paid off. While the LCDA has its audits from 2021–23 done, its 2024 audit is in the works, though it is expected to be done soon, and its 2025 audit is projected to be done by November. “That’s important because in order to apply for state funds, we have to have those done,” Courtney Rogers, senior vice president of Davenport and Company, which is advising the LCDA. A 2018 bond issued for an expansion at Hugo Boss is almost paid off, and a 2019 bond will be paid off in 10 years. But the millage rate the LCDA creates is barely enough to cover the debt test, Rogers warned. The LCDA has an agreement with the adjoining Laurel View development to provide sewer capacity. The first phase of the development will be about 180 homes, and it will pay about $1.6 million in three installments for phase 1A. The LCDA’s debt service does not take into account the full buildout of Laurel View, which could be as many as 3,000 homes, nor any associated commercial development — and it doesn’t include any potential industrial or commercial users. And the LCDA has been fielding a multitude of…
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