The four-member state board that has to sign off before most Texas bonds reach the market meets Sept. 17 to vote on a water borrowing authorized at up to $2.2 billion. The sale is set to price the following week.
The money funds the state’s main water lending program, which makes below-market loans to cities, districts and river authorities for projects in the state water plan. The Water Development Board raises it two ways, and the Sept. 17 vote covers both: up to $1.05 billion in revenue bonds, secured by a trust holding money transferred from a dedicated state fund, and general obligation bonds that the state backs directly — up to $1 billion tax-exempt, plus up to $150 million taxable. Voters capped that second category at $6 billion outstanding at any one time, and roughly $889 million was outstanding in July.
The water board approved the documents July 23 and, at the same meeting, committed roughly $1.27 billion in loans to eight borrowers — the largest to the North Texas Municipal Water District at $370.8 million, then Georgetown at $274 million, the Riverbend Water Resources District, which the water board lists in Red River County, at $248.8 million and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District at $184 million. A borrower-by-borrower allocation for these particular bonds has not been published; the schedules in the draft offering document are blank. Preliminary figures posted to the water board’s investor site total about $1.66 billion, well under the cap. Pricing is set for Sept. 23 and 24, with closing Oct. 9. The board’s approval is the last state gate before the sale.
None of this is the money voters approved last November. Proposition 4 dedicates the first $1 billion of sales tax collected above $46.5 billion each year to the state water fund, but the dedication does not begin until September 2027, and the water board’s own timeline does not expect the money to reach borrowers until fall 2029.
Three smaller items round out the agenda: refunding bonds for the Public Finance Authority that pay off outstanding short-term notes for the Facilities Commission and the health commission, $20 million in housing bonds for Braniff Lofts, a 48-unit supportive-housing conversion on Wycliff Avenue in Dallas, and a veterans’ land refunding listed as exempt from board approval. In practice the officeholders rarely appear; each sends a designee, and one of them chairs.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 10 a.m. CT Thursday, September 17, 2026. The notice, TRD 2026005400, was filed September 9 at 2:40 p.m.
- Where
- Room 402, William P. Clements Building, 300 W. 15th St., Austin, with a Zoom videoconference open to the public by registration.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas Bond Review Board — the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker and comptroller, each of whom may send a designee. The governor chairs by statute.
- Format
- Regular meeting, ten items. Public comment is limited to three minutes; speakers raise a hand in Zoom or email the board in advance.
- Live video
- By Zoom webinar; the board does not stream publicly but will email an audio recording on request.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · board meetings page
Board members
- Greg Abbott — governor; Austin; chairs the board by statute.
- Dan Patrick — lieutenant governor; Austin.
- Dustin Burrows — speaker of the House; Austin.
- Don Huffines — comptroller of public accounts; Austin; sworn in August.
- Jimmy Anderson — the governor’s designee; presided at recent meetings.
- Joaquin Guadarrama — the lieutenant governor’s designee.
- Andrew Blifford — the speaker’s designee.
- Kimberly Edwards — the comptroller’s designee.
Membership from the board’s members and alternates page, updated July 31, checked against the board’s June 18 minutes and the comptroller’s office. The board lists only names for the four designees and no titles, so none are given here. Two designations changed over the summer: the comptroller’s seat passed from acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock to Don Huffines, who was sworn in Aug. 1, and the speaker’s designee changed. Note the comptroller’s own website had not been updated to reflect the change when this was written. Rob Latsha is executive director. Note that the agenda link labeled for this meeting on the board’s website still points to the July agenda; the correct file was uploaded separately Sept. 9. Staff contact: Rob Latsha, (512) 463-1741.