PIEDMONT, Okla. (KOKH) — Tomorrow, Piedmont voters will decide the fate of a bond package worth $16.7 million. City leaders say if it passes, the program will fund street and building improvements, and even bring a sports complex to town.
Fox 25 is seeing mixed reactions around town ahead of Election Day. This is mostly because of how these bonds would impact property taxes.
“I am 100% against all of it,” Resident Ali Taylor said.
Taylor shares her concerns before Piedmont voters decide on three bond propositions Tuesday.
“The biggest thing is they want the taxpayers to pay for all of that.”
If everything passes, residents would see a monthly property tax increase ranging from $50 to $100, depending on their home value, for the next 20 years.
“I’m a single mom. My daughter has high medical bills for other things, and so that’s a huge increase for me. We can’t afford it. Some people might be able to, and that’s awesome. But, I can’t.”
City Manager Josh Williams says voters should evaluate their finances.
But, he also speaks highly of Proposition 1, where $10 million would be used for improving roads, which have been a concern for years.
“Create a more safe transportation network for our residents is one of our key focuses,” Williams said. “We have a high school that sits on a two-lane road. In the busy traffic times, which are typically during the school year, it makes it difficult for residents to get around. For first responders when there’s a call, they generally end up in oncoming traffic or pushing cars off to the side of the road. It’s just creating a safety concern.”
Williams says most of the $4 million from Proposition 2 would go towards building a sports complex.
“We have a lot of our community members that leave our community for sports, so we’re losing a lot of that retail leakage to surrounding communities. We really want to keep that here in Piedmont.”
$1.9 million in the final proposition would fund upgrades to public safety buildings.
“We also have a sally port, and a jail cell that needs to be secure, especially being so close to the baseball fields here for little league.”
Williams has a request, no matter how residents feel about what’s being proposed.
“Get out and vote. We have had historically low voter turnout. We have a little over 5,900 registered voters. We would like to make history here in Piedmont, and see us have the highest voter turnout for these general bonds. Their vote is their voice.”
Amid all of this, there’s some controversy.
Piedmont Public Schools (PPS) sent district families a flyer last Thursday, August 22, that says “vote yes” on these bonds. Superintendent Dr. Drew Eichelberger says sent families a follow-up letter acknowledging what happened.
He says his district shared a flyer from its email database that was sent to them, and they originally didn’t see the words “vote yes” in the graphic.
Eichelberger says he takes full responsibility for this mistake, and adds that he understands this is a clear violation of Oklahoma law.
He told families the district will do better.