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Introduction of Bond Orders for November 2024 Referendum.
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Staff:
Department:
Amy Oland, Director
Business Management Department
Overview: The Town is pursuing a referendum for general obligation bonds for affordable housing, public facilities, streets & sidewalks, parks and recreation facilities, and open space/greenways for the November 2024 ballot.
Recommendation(s):
That the Council:
* That the Mayor or a member of the Council introduce individually each of the bond orders for the November 2024 General Obligation (G.O.) Bond Referendum. To "introduce" the bond order, the title of each bond order should be read, it should be stated that the bond order is being introduced, and that the bond order will return for a final action at a subsequent meeting.
* That the Council adopt the resolution setting a public hearing on each bond order for June 17, 2024 and authorize the filing of a sworn statement of debt by the Town's Finance Officer.
Explanation of Referendum Process
* The State of North Carolina requires public approval for the issuance of most municipal general obligation (GO) bonds. Public approval is gained through a public vote or referendum. Referendum questions for municipal GO debt must be broken out into bond orders that authorize issuance of bonds for a particular purpose. Each bond order is voted on individually. The amount of a bond order is the maximum amount that can be borrowed.
* In collaboration with the Town's financial advisors, Town staff determined that the amount of available debt capacity over the next 5 years, without the need for a property tax increase, after the June 2024 installment financing, is $44 million.
* To determine the make-up of the bond orders and amounts proposed for the referendum, we asked departments to provide their top three capital project requests that supported Everywhere to Everywhere, the Affordable Housing Plan, and other Town master plans, Council goals, and community interests. ...
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