Treasury Division
The Treasury Division is responsible for managing the City’s $6 billion investment portfolio, $14 billion debt portfolio and entire City’s banking system in accordance with state law and the City’s policy internally. Fitch Ratings as awarded the City’s general investment portfolio its highest rating, AAA. The City has multiple general obligation, combined utility system, and airport system commercial paper programs with total authorization of $2.025 billion. (GO program of 1.025 billion; CUS program of 1.000 billion; Airport of $800.00 million) The current issuance capacity of the general obligation commercial paper program is $550 million which is supported by credit facilities or line credit, while $475 million is appropriated. The City of Houston also has combined utility system commercial paper program of $475 million which is supported by credit facilities or line credit, while $525 million is appropriated for combined utilities and $800 million authorized CP (commercial paper) for Houston Airport System. More ...
Houston Annual Investor Conference
The investor conference, investment conference or investor summit; is a specialized gathering aimed at bolstering financial obligations for capital improvement projects. It serves as a platform for the City of Houston's four credits -- Combined Utility System (Houston Public Works), Houston Airport System, Convention and Entertainment (Houston First), and Houston General Obligation—to present their financial performance, growth strategies, and plans to a targeted audience of investors, analysts, fund managers, and other financial professionals. Additionally, cities like San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas will have the opportunity to showcase their upcoming financial transaction and projects. This Investor Conference, exclusive to current and prospective investors, delivers insights into the City of Houston's initiatives. Presentations during the conference are not an offer or solicitation to buy any security. It's an opportunity for The City to present their financial performance, growth strategies, and plans to potential investors, allowing them to showcase strengths, highlight recent achievements, and address any concerns investors may have. Read more about the Annual Investor Conference.
Disclaimer Report
All information on this site has been furnished or obtained by the City from sources believed to be accurate and reliable but is not guaranteed. Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, the information in this site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, including, but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from contamination by computer viruses and non-infringement of proprietary rights, and, in particular, no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made or to be inferred as to the accuracy, timeliness, adequacy, legality, usefulness, reliability or completeness of this information. (Please click to read more information)
SWAP Quarterly Report
The objective of the swaps is to hedge against the potential of rising interest rates associated with the Bonds and to achieve a lower fixed rate than the market rate for traditional fixed rate debt at time of issuance. The notional amounts of the 2004B SWAP agreement totals $653.3 million and the RBC 2018C SWAP total notional amount is $249 million, the principal amount of the associated Bonds. The City’s swap agreements contain scheduled reductions to outstanding notional amounts that follow anticipated payments of principal of the Bonds in varying amounts during the years 2028 to 2034. Under the terms of the swaps, the City will pay a fixed rate of 3.78% on SWAPS and pay a floating (SIFMA) on the bonds and receive a floating rate equal to 58.55% of 10-Year CMS SOFR. (Amended in November 2023) Read more SWAP information.
Investment Reports
The Treasury Division is responsible for managing the City’s $6 billion investment portfolio investment portfolio in accordance with state law and the City’s investment policy. Fitch has awarded the City’s general investment its highest portfolio rating, AAA. The City of Houston invest public funds in a manner which will provide the highest investment return with the maximum security while meeting the daily cash flow demands of the City and conforming to all state and local statutes governing the investment of public funds. Public funds are invested through programs such as General Funds, Special Revenue Funds, General Debt Service Funds, Capital Project Funds, Enterprise Funds, and Trust and Agency Funds. The City’s investment portfolio shall be designed with the objective of attaining the best feasible rate of return, throughout budgetary and economic cycles, commensurate with the City’s investment risk constraints and the cash flow. The City’s investment portfolio will remain sufficiently liquid to enable the City to meet all operating requirements and the funds shall be undertaken in a manner that seeks to ensure the preservation of capital for the overall portfolio. In addition, the debt program is approximately $14 billion as of June 30, 2024. Read More ...
Debt Transparency Report
The 84th Legislature passed HB 1378 to increase the transparency of local government debt. Under Local Government Code §140.008, political subdivisions, including counties, cities, school districts, junior college districts, special purpose districts, and other subdivisions of state government must annually compile their debt obligation data from the preceding fiscal year. The City of Houston has posted its Debt Transparency Report that displays Houston’s individual outstanding debt obligations for General Obligation, Airport System, Consolidated Rental Car Special Facility, Special Facilities, Convention & Entertainment Facilities, and Combined Utility System. This report is dated as of June 30th 2022. Read the Debt Transparency Report (.pdf)
ESG Investing
The investment initiative to fully integrate environment, social, and governance (ESG) consideration into investment decision-making process will solidify Houston’s place as a leader on responsible investment, generating higher risk-adjusted returns and making an impact on Houston’s broader priorities. ESG investing drives better risk-adjusted returns, since companies that score higher on ESG facts tend to have stronger fundamentals that mitigate financial risk, putting those companies in a better position for long-run stability and profitability. Also, ESG investing help guide investment dollars to make a positive impact on some of the most fundamental challenges facing Houstonians. For questions in relations to the ESG portfolio, please contact the implementor, Vernon Middleton Lewis. Read more about ESG Investing
Why Purchase City Municipal Bonds?
Municipal bonds have been essential to Houston’s growth. I am not sure most of the people who back them - the taxpayers - know the true value of municipal bonds. In short, bonds have allowed the City of Houston to accommodate all the new citizens in our city, over a quarter million moving here from other U.S. towns and cities just in the last decade. The City of Houston have about 2.2 million people and about 4 million + in surrounding areas. Our public schools, streets, water system, sewer system, airports, mass transit and the many public amenities for citizens - parks, libraries, health clinics - are all made possible by tax revenue and bonds. And it’s been that way for most American cities for the past 100 years. Why would the City issue bonds? Why would we want to accumulate debt, rather than relieve the debt we already have? It’s much like a young family looking to buy their first house: they certainly don’t want to save their money for 30 years, living in a small apartment, so they can finally buy a house outright. Instead, they go to a bank and arrange for a 30-year loan, a mortgage. Yes, they could look at this transaction as one of indebtedness, but of course they choose to look at it as their first home. More ...
COH Index & Treasury Rates Tracking
The Treasury Division is responsible in tracking the available indexes, LIBOR, SOFR, VRDOs, SIFMA , and Treasury Rate as it relates to the City’s outstanding Bonds Obligations and structure. The Treasury Department also track the MMD (Municipal Market Data) as it per to the yield curve which is the most widely referenced yield curve in the municipal bond market. The benchmark SOFR rates are essential for setting interest rates on all sorts of debts from corporate bonds to mortgages to the rates that banks lend to each other. As for the Treasury Rates, the yields are interpolated by the Treasury from the daily yield curve. This curve, which relates the yield on a security to its time to maturity is based on the closing market bid yields on actively traded Treasury securities in the over-the-counter market. The Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by Treasury securities. More ...
