The City of Marble Falls (“City”) will be considering the approval of a contingent fee contract for legal services (“Legal Services Contract”) at the regular meeting of the City Council of the City to be held on December 3, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 800 3rd Street, Marble Falls, Texas. The approval of the Legal Services Contract will be considered in connection with the City’s proposed issuance of general obligation refunding bonds in an amount not to exceed $4,655,000 (the “Obligations”). The City intends to select the law firm of Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP (“BHDA”) to serve as the City’s bond counsel in connection with the sale and issuance of the Obligations (the “Issuance”) and any other issuances of public securities by the City during the term of the Legal Services Contract. The Legal Services Contract will be for an initial term of two (2) years.
BHDA has demonstrated that it has the competence, qualifications, and experience required to serve as the City’s bond counsel in connection with the Issuance. BHDA has successfully represented Texas local governments as bond counsel in connection with the issuance of public securities such as the Obligations for over 30 years. BHDA has served as bond counsel to the City in 26 transactions beginning in 2007, and most recently for the sale of the City’s Combination Tax and Limited Pledge Revenue Certificates of Obligation, Series 2019.
Attorneys that represent local governments in transactions such as the Issuance typically are recognized for their work in the specialized area of public finance. The City’s successful sale and issuance of public securities, such as the Issuance, will require the preparation of numerous transactional documents, the compilation of those documents into a transcript, and obtaining the approval of the Attorney General of the State of Texas for the sale of the obligations, as well as other procedural steps. The City does not have any attorneys on staff that have the specialized experience required for a successful sale of the Obligations or other public securities that the City may issue.
Each sale of public securities by a local government presents a unique set of legal issues and bond counsel traditionally bills for services on a contingent fee basis. Because bond counsel services are based on a fixed contingency rate, the City can know with certainty the precise amount of the fees before the sale of the public securities, and therefore, can more easily budget and plan for the use of the proceeds.
For the preceding reasons, entering into a contingent fee contract for bond counsel services with BHDA is in the best interest of the residents of the City.
