The city of Boerne is eyeing a bond issuance, which may see a November ballot placement, adding to the list of bond elections residents may be set to weigh in on.
City officials hinted at a bond issuance to cover some road improvements to tackle the city’s fast-growing traffic congestion issues during the city council’s budget workshop last year. If it comes to fruition, this bond election may appear a mere six months after a Boerne Independent School District bond election in May which could come with a $165.6 million price tag.
“So, they (the school district) are contemplating a bond issue every other year basically,” District 5 Councilmember Joe Macaluso said. “We haven’t done one in 14 years. So, the public has to decide. I’m certainly for education, there’s no question about that, but the quality of life depends on infrastructure and certain improvements. And the public has to decide what they want to do, and I fully agree we should be aggressive and let the public vote. …
“As an elected official, I don’t know what else to do. We’re not here to make that decision. We can only do what we can do with the money we have. If they don’t want to provide more money to do these projects, that’s fine. That’s OK. But then we do the maintenance. We fill the cracks. I mean, I’m being honest, that’s what we do.”
Additionally, the Kendall County commissioners have toyed lightly with the idea of a bond issuance in the future to help fund major projects, including the justice system poised for construction near the Kendall County jail. A justice system likely would house both the 451st District Court and the impending Kendall County Court at Law, which have concurrent jurisdiction.
All this means Kendall County and Boerne residents could be seeing several bond elections on upcoming ballots, but it remains unclear what those county and city bond issuance proposals would include, how much they would be for and when they might appear.
The Boerne City Council discussed a 2022 bond referendum during its winter workshop last week where city councilmembers expressed avid support for moving forward with the process. This would be the city’s first bond issuance attempt in nearly 15 years since its quality of life bond issuance in 2007.
However, this bond issuance likely would lead to a property tax increase – a funding mechanism previous city councilmembers opted not to take advantage of during the city’s last bond issuance. Boerne City Manager Ben Thatcher estimated each $5 million in tax-supported debt through a bond issuance would lead to a roughly $47.54 increase to annual property taxes for the average home.
While it’s entirely unclear how much the city would be seeking in a bond issuance, as city officials have yet to develop a list of projects with corresponding cost estimates, Mayor Tim Handren estimated a $20 million bond would lead to a roughly $235 increase to annual property taxes for the average home.
City councilmembers heard several presentations during the workshop Thursday night, showing the need for several largescale projects within the city limits that may not be fundable with regular property tax revenue.
Boerne Development Services Director Jeff Carroll addressed the city’s developing stormwater drainage master plan, which will be influenced by the city’s stormwater committee and consulting work contracted by city officials. Carroll said 16 projects have been identified that would total $60 million to complete. He said the consulting firm hired by the city is helping officials identify funding sources for some of the projects, including federal grants and bumping the city’s stormwater utility fee from its flat $4 rate.
Carroll pointed out there are several cities around Boerne that have rates doubling or tripling the city’s $4 flat rate, but he said the city opted to go with a lower rate to just “get it on the board.”
District 5 Councilmember Joe Macaluso agreed with earlier sentiments expressed by Handren that stormwater drainage is an issue left unresolved by previous city officials. Macaluso said a challenge the city is still facing relates to development that was approved several years ago, under a different city council, which are being constructed outside of the city’s recently adopted floodplain and floodway regulations and ordinances.
Macaluso pointed out the same developments would not be permitted under the regulations adopted by the sitting council.
Boerne Utilities Director Mike Mann presented to the council the state of the city’s current water and wastewater plants. The city currently has two wastewater treatment plants – one on Esser Road and a newer plant on Old San Antonio Road. The Esser Road plant has no room for expansion while the Old San Antonio Road plant has a higher capacity threshold and room for expansion, which is something the city seems to be eyeing.
Carroll approached the dais yet again to update to present a roadway condition assessment to councilmembers, where he presented budget adjustments to improve the overall grade of roads in the city.
Carroll said city staff are looking at a total reconstruction of five roadways in the city, including Adler, West Blanco and Shooting club roads and Parkway and West Kronkosky Street. He said these roadways are in such disrepair that staff recommends completely tearing out the existing pavement and replacing it.
Carroll said the roadway maintenance budget currently sits at just over $3,000 per land mile, but an increase to the roadway preservation budget to $550,000 per year and the introduction of a roadway reconstruction budget of $400,000 per year would bring the city’s annual expenditure per land mile to $6,800. He said this more closely resembled surrounding cities which have costs per land mile sitting between $7,000 and $9,000.
Handren pointed out that about 2 percent of the city’s budget currently goes toward street maintenance and preservation currently, but he said the budget adjustment would bump that up to 5 percent of the city’s annual budget. Handren said street preservation can dramatically extend the life of city roads.
Looking toward which reconstruction efforts could be funded by a bond referendum, Macaluso asked which roadway reconstructions would make the biggest impact on the city’s average road grade. Carroll said the majority of the projects identified for reconstruction are quite short, but the Adler Road project would most greatly improve the city’s average road grade. However, the Adler Road project alone is estimated to cost about $14 million.
The Kendall County, Boerne and Fair Oaks committee cochair, Bob Manning, presented a general outline of the committee’s goals and deadlines over the next six months, which included a March 29 deadline to have short term road project recommendations to the city to meet its bond election schedule.
The city council is expected to meet several more times to being the process of identifying projects before engaging in community outreach for public input, narrowing down or broadening the scope of projects until a list is solidified for election. The city will need to call for a bond election by August if a bond referendum is to be on the November election ballot.
Comment
Comments