SANTA FE — After a lot of hand wringing, the Santa Fe City Council this week approved putting three bond proposals on the November ballot.
It will be the city’s first bond referendum, and if voters approve all three propositions, the tax rate could increase by roughly 50 percent.
The first bond proposition would set aside $5 million to build a new police station, while the other two propositions would make available $3 million to expand the Mae S. Bruce Library and $900,000 to build a public works building.
“The tax rate has been so low we’ve been somewhat spoiled,” Mayor Ralph Stenzel said. “We really feel these items are justified, and the citizens of Santa Fe need to take a look at them.”
Should all three bond propositions pass, the city’s tax rate could increase by 15 to 16 cents per $100 of property value. The city’s tax rate is 31.14 cents per $100 of property value now.
Tax rates are divided into two components. The first is the maintenance and operations rate, which is set by the city council. The interest and sinking rate is set aside for debt approved by voters.
Santa Fe is just one of five cities in Galveston County that don’t have a debt component in the tax rate. The others are Bayou Vista, Tiki Island, Jamaica Beach and Clear Lake Shores.
Initially, the council considered putting four bond proposals on the ballot, including a more expansive public safety building that would have included the police department and municipal courts. The fourth bond proposition considered was $2.69 million for street improvements, driving the total bond package to $12.9 million with a 22.45 cent tax rate.
“That was the sticker shock,” Stenzel said. “We all agree this is a lot of money.”
Factoring in the expected 6-cent tax rate increase by the county to pay for indigent health care and the bond debt to come in the Santa Fe school district after voters approved bond propositions in May, Councilman Jeff Tambrella and others on the council worried the price tag would spell doom for the proposals. Council members even considered holding off the election until May.
“Everybody agrees that we need a police station,” Tambrella said. “Everybody agrees on the library. Everybody agrees we need to fix the streets. But there will be people like my wife who will vote no, no, no.”
Councilman Jim Abney warned delaying the vote could be costly.
“Now is the time to go out for construction because costs are so low,” he said. “The longer we wait, the costs go up.”
To alleviate some of the sticker shock, council members trimmed about $1.6 million from the public safety building by eliminating the municipal court facilities and dropping the road projects.
Still, given that this will be the city’s first bond referendum, council members worried whether all or any of the propositions would meet with voter approval.
Abney said the school district, where he works as the transportation director, struggled three times to get its bond proposal, which included funds for an auditorium at the high school, passed.
“I don’t want to worry so much about failure that we as a council don’t do anything,” Stenzel said.
Police Chief Kenneth Campbell said he thought convincing voters to back the police station proposition would be an easy sell by just holding an open house and letting voters see for themselves the current station is too small and outdated.
Santa Fe resident Ted Landry said educating the public would be key.
“If you educate me why we need these things, then we will just have to tighten our wallets and vote for it,” he said in comments to the council during a workshop session. “If you educate people, they will use their own common sense and decide what’s best for the city.”
+++
Santa Fe Tax rate: 31.14 cents per $100 of property value
Election: Nov. 3, with early voting starting Oct. 19
Proposition 1 $5 million for police station Estimated tax rate increase: 8.33 cents*
Proposition 2 $3 million for library expansion Estimated tax rate increase: 5.05 cents*
Proposition 3 $900,000 for public works building Estimated tax rate increase: 1.5 cents*
Total: $8.9 million
Estimated tax rate increase: 14.88 cents*
* Tax rate increases are initial estimates and are expected to be lower, according to city’s consultant.
