Stafford property owners are one step closer to saving at least $500,000 in debt costs after the City Council and Stafford Municipal School District Board of Trustees formally adopted the ordinance authorizing up to $4 million in refunding bonds at their joint meeting Tuesday, Aug. 11.

The City of Stafford confirmed the adoption on Wednesday, Aug. 12, marking the final approval for the Stafford Municipal School District Unlimited Tax Refunding Bonds, Series 2026. The bonds will refinance a portion of the district's outstanding debt at lower interest rates, with a hard floor written into the ordinance: if the deal cannot produce at least $500,000 in gross savings, the bonds cannot be sold.

The savings floor is firm. The closing is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15. Mayor Ken Mathew and SMSD Superintendent Adam Stephens are designated as "Pricing Officers" who can finalize sale terms within one year of the ordinance.

As we reported Aug. 5, the council and board first authorized the bonds at their workshop earlier that week. Tuesday's vote was the formal adoption that locks in the ordinance language.

For Stafford High School families, the refinancing does not change the district's total tax rate, which holds flat again at $1.00212 per $100 of assessed value. That rate breaks down to $0.78690 for maintenance and operations and $0.21522 for debt service. Stafford remains the only city in Texas that operates a municipal school district and levies no separate city property tax; the entire levy funds schools.

The savings matter more this year because certified taxable property values across the district fell roughly $137 million, from about $4.32 billion to $4.18 billion, a 3.16% decline, according to budget documents presented at the Aug. 11 workshop. That drop is projected to cost about $1.2 million in local tax collections, though state funding is expected to rise from $8.67 million to $10.74 million through increased Foundation School Program dollars and Teacher Retention Allotment funds.

RBC Capital Markets is serving as financial advisor and underwriter, with the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company in Dallas acting as escrow agent. Bond counsel Marcus Deitz, a Houston partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, authored the ordinance language.

The next major date for Stafford families is Monday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m., when the council and board will hold their Budget and Tax Rate Adoption Meeting to finalize the district's $45.1 million spending plan for 2026-27.