To pay for the second phase of the Liberty Avenue Yard, shop buildings in two Jasper County parks, outfitted classrooms in the nature center and extra facilities for the sheriff’s office, the supervisors are expected to pursue a bond vote this coming November and they claim they can do so without raising taxes.
Supervisor Brandon Talsma said due to changes in state law the bond issuances can only be held on the November ballots, which gives the county four months to communicate its plan to taxpayers. So when it comes time to choose a president, citizens will also be voting yes or no for the individual projects.
Although it is estimated the combined total of the bond referendums to be about $7.5 million, the prices sought for each project have not been set at this point. Talsma said the reason the county can afford a bond issue while still not raising taxes is due to the upcoming drop in the debt service levy.
“Same thing we had with the administration building. We have an opportunity to bond for some long-term projects instead of seeing a spike in our capital projects levy to continue to maintain facilities,” Talsma said. “…We got debt coming off the books. We’re at a point in time we can tackle another large capital project.”
The bond issues were discussed during the work session following the regularly scheduled board of supervisors meeting on July 2. But with consensus from the supervisors, it is likely the request will appear on a future agenda so that the county can begin planning outreach events and a communications plan.
Included in the second phase of the Liberty Avenue Yard is the construction of the new secondary roads offices and shop building, which would relocate staff from the current engineer’s office. Equipment has outgrown the current facility, and work has already been completed at the new site next to the sheriff’s office.
Conservation is in need of a shop building at Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve and another at Mariposa Park. Talsma also proposed a portion of the bond could pay for the outfitting of the classrooms in the upcoming state-of-the-art nature center, which staff say is projected to break ground this year.
The former Jasper County Animal Rescue League building is being transformed into a local training facility for law enforcement, and it is proposed the bond issue help pay for the remodel and a location for the advanced life support (ALS) program, a small break room, an office and ambulance storage.
“Instead of phasing those projects in to the tune of $250,000 or $300,000 a year over the next couple fiscal years, we could could lump them in with this bond issuance and get them all knocked out at the same time as well,” Talsma said. “We would be looking at about 3.8 percent on the high side of interest.”
Still, Talsma was adamant the county can take on the bonds without increasing the debt service levy or taxes. Talsma said if every project passes on the bond issue, it will be paid off entirely in 10 years. Supervisor Denny Stevenson was in support of the idea, particularly the new yard site for secondary roads.
“This has been a long time coming,” Stevenson said. “I was glad to see you guys get that started. I think it absolutely needed to be done. Because of the way we’ve done it around here, we’ll get these projects done without costing the taxpayers tons and tons and tons of money. I mean, they’re paying for it.”
Supervisor Doug Cupples agreed.
“I think we need to put it on the agenda,” Cupples said. “Let’s get it going.”
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