Gulf Shores to Weigh $23 Million Loan, a Fourth Borrowing of 2026

The Gulf Shores City Council is scheduled to take up a recommendation on June 1 to borrow $23 million through a 20-year direct bank loan, according to the agenda for the council's work session (item 6.A, Finance and Administrative Services).

Agenda packet, June 1 work session, page 20 — the finance department's item summary on the proposed loan.

The summary says the proceeds would fund city infrastructure projects and retire $8.2 million in outstanding debt on a line of credit. Davenport & Company, the city's financial adviser, distributed a request for proposals to banks on May 13 for a 20-year direct bank loan, the agenda says. Davenport received four bank proposals and compared them to issuing public debt. SouthState Bank offered the lowest interest rate, 4.2 percent, with no prepayment penalty, and Davenport recommends using SouthState to finance the debt.

Agenda packet, page 21 — the financial impact and key dates.

The agenda lists annual debt service on the loan at approximately $1,737,390 and says the money has been budgeted in the city's Debt Service Fund to cover the new debt. It sets a key date of June 11 to close on what the document calls the Series 2026D warrant.

The summary notes the city has issued debt three other times in 2026, all previously approved by the council; the new loan would be its fourth borrowing of the year. The pace is the latest in a capital-spending program stretching back several years: in March 2022, Gulf Shores arranged $197 million in 20-year loans — $150 million from Truist Bank and $47 million from SouthState — to finance a 10-year improvement plan, Gulf Coast Media reported. The 4.2 percent rate on the proposed loan is well above the roughly 2.3 to 2.4 percent the city secured in 2022.

The June 1 meeting is a work session, where the council discusses items rather than votes.