By JOE BOCANEGRA
Special to the NEWS
Tuesday evening the San Benito City Commission was informed that the city had its credit rating upgraded to A1, according to Moody’s, to an A rating from Standard and Poor’s (S&P), and a A+ rating from Fitch Ratings.
Don Gonzales from Estrada Hinojosa Investment Bankers presented the news to the board, cautioning that because of the raised ratings, the city will need to not only keep a balanced budget but add more revenue to the city as the years progress.
Also, he said, due to the ratings interest rates from various city loans have been lowered, thus saving the city hundreds of thousands dollars per year.
“We were at the right place at the right time,” Place 4 City Commissioner Celeste Sanchez commented at the closing of the presentation.
Other highlights of the meeting included Fire Chief Severo Ochoa asking for the cities that helped the San Benito, Rio Hondo, Harlingen, Brownsville, Los Fresnos, McAllen, La Feria, and Weslaco fire departments not to mention the US Border Patrol, Cameron and Hidalgo counties as well as the Red Cross be officially credited for their assistance in helping extinguish the Aug. 1 tire fire on a 20-acre piece of land located off the 33000 block of Barlow Road outside San Benito.
The owner of the property, reportedly a Bobby Ray Waldrep, was recently arrested on unrelated charges in Brown County. Waldrep, however, was charged with illegal dumping in Cameron County.
In other news, Police Chief George Gomez was permitted to submit an application for Operation Border Star, a grant with the US Border Patrol, which entitles the San Benito police to $35,000, which in turn can help them get an additional $75,000 in September to target drugs, narcotics, guns, and gang activities. A federal grant of $200,000 may also be available come 2012.
A recommendation to apply fixed water rates for multi-unit homes was tabled at the meeting, seeing that there was no agreement as of yet on what those recommendations should be.
An agreement for the San Benito Youth Stock show was found to be identical to the one that was presented to the city last year, thus prompting the commission to table such talks until a future meeting.
Furthermore, plans to equalize the rental price for the city’s baseball fields at the Municipal Park to $50 per tournament have been put on hold as well. If agreed, regulations may also include leaving the concession stand rentals as they are.
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the Aug. 21 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.
1 comment
You can bet Estrada Hinojosa Investment Bankers are making plenty of $$$$ off of the City!