Holly Springs cleared for $135M revenue bonds to fund utility, infrastructure upgrades

The North Carolina Local Government Commission approved about $135 million in revenue bonds for the Town of Holly Springs at its March 3–4, 2026 meeting to fund a package of utility and infrastructure projects intended to address rapid growth and aging systems in the Wake County town. The action, recorded at the LGC session held March 3–4, 2026, clears the way for borrowing tied to the town’s enterprise systems.

A portion of the bond proceeds will be used to redeem a 2025 note that paid for earlier upgrades to the Utley Creek Water Reclamation Facility, and remaining proceeds will rehabilitate existing components and build new infrastructure at Utley Creek to increase treatment capacity from 6 million gallons per day to 8 million gallons per day. The Utley Creek expansion is the only project named in the available materials; the LGC authorization referenced a broader package of enterprise system improvements.

Holly Springs’ rapid growth underpins the financing request: U.S. Census figures cited in the state materials show the town’s population rose from 24,661 in 2010 to 48,674 in 2024. The state release accompanying the LGC action also includes a forecast that water and sewer rates could increase in scenarios ranging from a low of 9 percent to a high of 15 percent through fiscal year 2031, a key fiscal consequence for utility customers if the town implements the modeled rate path.

Related bond documents from a 2024 offering indicate prior or parallel financings that require reconciliation with the March 2026 approval. An FMSBonds fragment lists a multi-municipality allocation table totaling $390,677,680 with the Town of Holly Springs shown at 21.0 percent or $81,930,132; the fragment also states the town planned to pay for its 2024 Project with proceeds of the 2024 Bonds ($64,730,132) and State grant funds and certain other available funds ($19,900,000). That fragment records a Town Council bond order adopted June 18, 2024 and cites authorization under the State and Local Government Revenue Bond Act, Article 5 of Chapter 159, and it states the issuance of the 2024 Bonds was approved by the Local Government Commission.

Legal and administrative names appear in the offering fragments: Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP is identified as bond counsel to the town, John Schifano, Esq., is named as town attorney, and Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP is listed as counsel to the underwriter. The 2024 document fragment also references Rule 15c2-12 compliance and notes a July 1, 2024 utility merger in which the Town of Pittsboro’s system merged into the City of Sanford’s system under an interlocal agreement.

The materials available do not explicitly link the March 2026 “about $135 million” authorization to the line-item figures in the 2024 offering fragment, so the town’s official LGC order, the town’s bond ordinance or an official statement will be needed to reconcile series names, final par amounts, the exact portion of proceeds earmarked to redeem the 2025 note, and the timeline for the Utley Creek expansion. The March LGC session handled requests involving Forsyth, Guilford, Harnett, Jackson, Orange, Wake, Wayne and Wilkes counties; Holly Springs’ next public financing documents should specify project budgets and the mechanics behind the forecasted 9 percent to 15 percent water and sewer rate scenario through FY2031.