Texas to offer $1.5 billion of trans in August but more borrowings needed, Treasurer says.

DALLAS -- The Texas Treasury will sell a record $1,5 billion in tax and revenue anticipation notes next month, but will need more borrowings to ease the cash-flow crunch in fiscal 1993, state Treasury Kay Bailey Hutchison said yesterday.

The state is also expected to sell $500 million to $700 million of short-term securities early next year to close a cash-flow deficit that will peak at $2.4 billion next May, Mrs. Hutchison said.

"This does not reflect on our overall financial standing," Mrs. Hutchison said, noting that the double-A rated state has a balanced budget and stable revenues. "We are in very god shape."

The record competitive borrowing next month is needed largely because the state expects a major cash-flow deficit after Texas lawmakers last year shifted the collection date for the state's franchise tax, a major revenue source, from March to May.

"The March-to-May shift in the franchise tax is the only reason we have a deeper hole than usual," the treasurer said in a telephone interview.

The state expects the cash balance at the close of this fiscal year on Aug. 31 to exceed $300 million. Treasury officials estimated that the ending balance next year should be $351 million.

The Texas Cash Management Committee, which is made up of the treasurer and the state's other top constitutional officers, yesterday approved a competitive sale tentatively for the week of Aug. 20.

The $1.5 billion sale of Trans tops a record $1.2 billion sold in 1987 when the state was at the height of its financial difficulties caused by the collapse of the state's oil-based economy.

Mrs. Hutchison said the committee will be asked to authorize up to another $700 million of short-term borrowings in early 1993, which is likely to include a commercial paper program.

"We are going to go back to the cash management committee for further authorization which we'll use early next year," she said.

She also warned yesterday that the cash-flow borrowing needs could set another record in fiscal 1994, largely because of a one-time transfer of funds authorized by the Texas Legislature.

When lawmakers wrote the current two-year $60 billion budget, they included provisions that will consolidate some $800 million of funds in various state accounts on Aug. 31, 1993, the last day of the fiscal year.

Mrs. Hutchison said that move will curtail the state's ability to use inter-fund borrowing to meet cash-flow needs. As a result, a larger note program is anticipated.

For now, the Texas treasury next month plans to sell 12-month notes in a deal expected to attract broad interest. Mrs. Hutchison will meet with institutional buyers and credit analysts at 5 p.m. Monday in the Cumberland Room of the Tower Club in downtown Dallas.

"We're looking at a conventional sale right now," said Noe Hinojosa-,partner with Estrada Hinojosa & Co. of Dallas, co-financial adviser on the deal with Artemis Capital Group Inc. "We feel good about the marketplace right now,"

On Wednesday, The Bond Buyer's one-year index was at 2.99% six basis points lower than a week before and nearly 200 basis points better than a year ago, when the state began its fiscal 1992 note program.

State officials expect the notes, which have traditionally carried the top short-term ratings, to price below 3%. "We feel good that we will be under 3%," Mrs. Hutchison said. "And the farther under that, the better."

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