Atlanta taxpayers are one step closer to being able to decide whether to borrow up to $250 million to fix the city’s aging infrastructure.
The Atlanta City Council voted Monday to place Mayor Kasim Reed’s infrastructure bond initiative on a March 17 ballot.
The vote is a critical step in Reed’s plans to ask voters to approve the spending to address a billion-dollar backlog in needed repairs to roads, bridges, streets and municipal properties.
Atlantans will be asked to approve two separate bonds. The first, worth $188 million, will fund capital maintenance projects such as road improvements, stormwater drainage, street signage and sidewalks. The second bond, valued at $64 million, will pay to build or improve municipal facilities.
The list of projects to be tackled with the bond is not yet finalized, something city leaders say will be done in coming months. The final project list must be confirmed prior to the bond issuance.
Proposed projects — found on the city’s Website — include spending an estimated $24 million to improve six bridges, such as $12.8 million to replace the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive bridge in downtown Atlanta; $99 million in street upgrades citywide, including $2.5 million to improve DeKalb Avenue; and $3 million to upgrade city recreation centers.
District 9 Councilwoman Felicia Moore, often a nay vote, supported the legislation on Monday. She said she thinks voters are likely to support the larger bond which will address street improvements. But she believes city leaders must do more to explain how money from the second, smaller bond will be spent to improve city buildings.
“I definitely support street improvements; that’s my priority,” she said. “The other ones? I’d still like to get more clarity.”
Reed has made tackling the city’s growing backlog in infrastructure improvements the top goal of his second term, and pledged to pay for the effort through cost savings instead of tax increases.
To that end, the mayor formed a blue ribbon commission last year to identify savings measures in the city budget, such as selling under-performing city assets to free up cash.
But much of the annual debt service, which Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard estimates will cost $20.6 million per year, will be paid by redistributing the city’s operating and debt service millage rates. Taxpayers will not see a net increase, city leaders say.
The council, which returned from recess this week, also approved legislation by District 7 Councilman Howard Shook to set aside up to 3.5 percent of the city’s general fund in coming years for project maintenance. The council also approved a measure to equally distribute a portion of the funds among the city’s 12 districts.
District 10 Councilman C.T. Martin introduced legislation on Monday to form an oversight committee over the bond issuance. His measure will now head to a council committee for consideration.
About the Author
