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Public Hearing on Bond Orders for November 2024 Referendum and Approval of Bond Orders, Ballot Questions, and Referendum Details.
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Staff:
Department:
Amy Oland, Director
Business Management
Overview: The Town is pursuing a referendum for general obligation bonds for affordable housing, public buildings, streets and sidewalks, parks and recreation facilities, and open space and greenways for the November 2024 ballot.
Recommendation(s):
That the Council:
* Conduct a public hearing on the bond orders proposed for the November 5, 2024 Referendum.
* Adopt each of the attached bond orders by separate vote.
* Adopt the resolution regarding publication of the bond orders and details of the bond referendum.
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 five 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.
* After several planning sessions with Council, we propose the following bond orders and amounts:
BOND ORDER
AMOUNT
Affordable Housing
$ 15.0 million
Public Facilities
15.0 million
Streets & Sidewalks
7...
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