El Paso County voters will decide Nov. 5 if they want the county to issue $323.8 million in property tax-supported bonds to pay for a variety of projects, including $105.5 million in renovations for the El Paso County Coliseum campus and $95.6 million in county park improvements.
El Paso County Commissioners Court Monday unanimously voted to put the Capital Improvement Bond Program, to fund 24 projects, on the Nov 5 election ballot. The bonds would increase property taxes.
The court Monday also approved putting a $396.6 million bond issue on the same Nov. 5 ballot to pay for a variety of projects to expand and improve the county-operated University Medical Center of El Paso and outpatient facilities.
The $725.4 million in bonds would increase the property tax by just over $130 a year on a county home with an average taxable value of over $200,000 ‒ about $70 per year for the UMC bond, and just over $60 per year for the capital improvements' bond, UMC and county officials estimated.
Bond issue divided into 5 propositions
Voters will have the choice of rejecting some of the $323.8 million capital projects' bond issue because it will be divided into five separate propositions:
Proposition A: Parks and recreation: $95.6 million in improvements for 13 parks; Proposition B: New medical examiner's office, $26.7 million; Proposition C: Three new county office annexes, $63.3 million; Proposition D: County Coliseum campus improvements, $105.5 million; and new county animal shelter: $32.7 million.
Proposed improvements to the coliseum and Ascarate Park were part of a $90,000 study done for County Commissioners. It was released in 2022.
The commissioners-appointed bond advisory committee recommended $294.4 million in projects for the bond issue. It recommended only $60 million for coliseum improvements.
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Water projects to be in different list
County commissioners also are expected to soon approve an additional list of projects, headed by water and sewer projects, costing more than $170 million to be paid through certificates of obligation. Those do not have to be approved by voters.
Commissioners sell quality of life
County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, and commissioners Carlos Leon, David Stout, and Sergio Coronado hailed the proposed capital projects' bond issue as an opportunity for voters to improve the county's quality of life.
"I see it as a great investment" that will help recruit more companies to El Paso, Samaniego said. "We're going to do some amazing things with what (money) we get."
Commissioner Holguin wanted smaller list
Commissioner Iliana Holguin agreed the proposed projects should go to voters for approval. But, she said, commissioners would have served taxpayers better by putting a smaller project list, around $175 million, before voters and return to voters later for additional projects.
Only one member of the public spoke against the proposed bond issue: Max Grossman, a University of Texas at El Paso professor and government spending watchdog, who said county residents' tax bills are already too high.
"It's like you want the UMC bond to fail" by putting the capital improvement bond on the ballot at the same time, Grossman said. "Only the UMC bond is absolutely essential."
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The projects' list was the result of public input at 24 public meetings that the county bond advisory committee used to make recommendations to commissioners, who made the final decisions.
More information on the proposed projects is available on a special county website: epcounty.com/2024bond
Vic Kolenc may be reached at 915-546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com ; @vickolenc on Twitter , now known as X.
Proposed projects
Some of the proposed El Paso County Capital Improvement Bond Program projects:
- Ascarate Park, Lower Valley: Festival area with outdoor musical stages, $11.5 million
- Ascarate Park walking trail, $5.1 million
- Gallegos Park, Canutillo: New baseball stadium lighting, paved parking lots, other improvements, $17.1 million
- County Coliseum campus: Renovations to 5,250-seat concert facility; renovating adjacent building into small concert venue; second ice-skating rink; and other improvements, $105.5 million
- Far East Montana office annex, $30 million
- County Animal Shelter, next to El Paso County Jail Annex at 12501 Montana Ave., $32.7 million.
- New County Medical Examiner office, $26.7 million.
Source: El Paso County
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso County Coliseum renovations part of $324M bond issue going to voters in November
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