The City of Seagoville is considering borrowing as much as $7.15 million for a fire station project near Kaufman Street and Hall Street, a financing plan that could require an estimated $11.43 million in principal and interest over the life of the debt.
But city financial records also show Seagoville has already accumulated more than $2.2 million in a fund specifically designated for the Central Fire Station, raising an important question ahead of the proposed debt issuance: How much money does the city already have available for the project, and how will those funds be combined with the proposed borrowing?
According to the city’s official notice of intent, the Seagoville City Council is tentatively scheduled to consider issuing certificates of obligation at its Oct. 19 meeting.
The certificates could total as much as $7.15 million in principal and could mature over a period not exceeding 40 years.
Using an assumed interest rate of 5 percent, the city estimates the combined principal and interest required to repay the certificates would be approximately $11.432 million.
That estimate is not a final financing cost. The actual interest rate and repayment schedule would be determined when the debt is issued and would depend partly on market conditions.
More Than $2.2 Million Was Already in Fire Station Fund
The proposed borrowing is not the first money Seagoville has designated toward a fire station project.
The city’s financial statements show that its Central Fire Station Fund had an ending fund balance of $2,262,863 as of Sept. 30, 2025.
During that fiscal year, the city transferred $1.6 million into the fund and received $28,562 in investment income.
An earlier City of Seagoville FY2025-26 proposed budget went even further in projecting resources for the fund.
That budget listed a beginning balance of $2,256,301, a planned $250,000 transfer and $5,000 in anticipated interest. Together, the city projected $2,511,301 in total available funds for the Central Fire Station Fund during FY2025-26.
No capital-outlay expenditure was listed in that particular budget summary, and the document stated that the funds were intended to be used to build a new fire station.
Those numbers do not establish the current balance of the Central Fire Station Fund in August 2026. Money may have been spent, transferred, committed or added since those documents were prepared.
They do establish, however, that Seagoville had already accumulated a substantial amount of money specifically for a fire station before announcing the potential $7.15 million debt issuance.
Exactly What Fire Station Is Being Planned?
There is another question that remains important.
Seagoville has already constructed a second fire station in recent years. Earlier city budgets described that project as Fire Station No. 2, constructed to improve response times and provide additional coverage across the city.
The latest debt notice is for a fire station to be located at or near the intersection of Kaufman Street and Hall Street.
However, the notice does not identify the proposed facility as Fire Station No. 3, nor does it state whether the project would replace, reconstruct or otherwise affect an existing fire station.
That distinction matters.
Recent city budget documents have discussed both planning and designing a third fire station and assessing Fire Station No. 1 for possible reconstruction to meet modern operational and safety standards.
At the same time, the city has maintained the separate Central Fire Station Fund for several years.
Based on the documents currently available, it would be premature to conclude which of those plans is represented by the proposed Kaufman Street/Hall Street project.
What is clear is that the city is now preparing for a potentially much larger financial commitment.
Potential Cost Reaches $11.43 Million
The maximum $7.15 million certificate authorization would cover construction of the fire station as well as related materials, supplies, equipment, machinery, rights-of-way and professional services.
At the city’s assumed 5 percent interest rate, approximately $4.28 million of the estimated $11.43 million repayment total would be above the $7.15 million maximum principal amount.
The certificates would primarily be supported by property-tax revenue. The city also proposes a limited subordinate pledge of water and sewer revenues not exceeding $1,000.
Seagoville’s notice also reports that, before this proposed issuance, the city already had $16.25 million in outstanding public securities secured by property taxes.
The estimated principal and interest required to pay those existing securities in full is approximately $20.19 million, excluding securities the city designates as self-supporting.
Residents Still Need the Full Project Cost
The numbers leave several major questions unanswered.
The most important is the total anticipated cost of the fire station project.
If money already accumulated in the Central Fire Station Fund will be used along with some or all of the proposed $7.15 million in certificates, the overall amount available for the project could be substantially greater than the borrowing figure alone.
The city’s FY2025-26 proposed budget projected $2.51 million in total available Central Fire Station funds, while the city’s later financial statements documented an actual $2.26 million fund balance as of Sept. 30, 2025.
The current balance has not been established by those older figures.
Residents also do not yet have, from the debt notice alone, a complete explanation of whether the Kaufman/Hall facility will be an additional fire station, a replacement facility or part of a broader restructuring of Seagoville’s fire-station system.
Other questions include how large the facility will be, when construction is expected to begin, how much has already been spent on planning or engineering, whether land has already been acquired, and what annual debt payments would look like under the city’s eventual financing terms.
Decision Could Come Oct. 19
The City Council is tentatively scheduled to consider authorization of the certificates at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Seagoville City Hall.
Until then, the city’s published financial records provide two important pieces of the picture.
Seagoville had already accumulated more than $2.2 million in its Central Fire Station Fund by Sept. 30, 2025, and the following year’s proposed budget anticipated more than $2.5 million in total available resources.
Now the city is considering authorization of up to another $7.15 million in debt, with estimated principal and interest totaling $11.43 million under the assumptions contained in its public notice.
The unanswered question is no longer simply whether Seagoville intends to build a fire station.
It is what the entire project will ultimately cost, exactly what facility the city intends to build, and how much money Seagoville already has available to pay for it.
