The Columbus City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to adopt a resolution of intent to issue up to $5 million in general obligation bonds for road and drainage improvement projects.
Bond attorney Steve Edds said the city must run a notice in newspapers for the bond issuance four times before July 5. The city will then hold a public meeting. Edds said the matter can be pushed to an election if 10 percent of the electorate, or about 1,500 people, petition for a vote.
“We think that we will be able to issue somewhere close to $5 million in bonds for (road and drainage improvement work) without raising taxes,” Edds said.
The improvement plan, according to Mayor Robert Smith, is similar to a project the city initiated in 2014.
In June 2014, the council approved $5 million in bonds to provide $4.5 million for paving, drainage and sidewalk improvements. At the time, a survey identified $6.3 million in needed improvements and council members were asked to help the city determine which roads in each ward should be considered a priority.
To fund the project, the city raised property taxes by 1.1 mills, an estimated additional annual cost of $11 for a property with an assessed value of $100,000.
Tuesday’s plan is similar to the 2014 project except, the mayor said, for one thing: The bonds should not lead to a millage increase in part to continued strong growth in the city’s sales tax revenues.
The new plan will include milling, paving and striping, as well as curb, gutter, sidewalk and bridge work.
The planned paving project includes work on a bridge in Ward 6 on Deer Run that will cost an estimated $135,000. Smith said a collapsed culvert on College Street between 15th and 19th streets south also needs to be addressed. That project should cost about $130,000.
Smith said the council split the money evenly during the last project, but councilmen will have to decide how to divvy up the money among wards, if the bonds are issued.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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