Sugar Land officials have called a $350 million bond election to fund a variety of projects to address outdated public safety facilities and aging infrastructure over the next five to seven years.
The bond election includes five separate initiatives that will be voted on individually:
- Proposition A includes $144.5 million for public safety. The largest projects include $63.2 million a new police headquarters, along $17.375 million to expand, rebuild and replace fire stations and another $17.325 million to replace aging fire and EMS vehicles;
- Proposition B would provide $118 million for streets, sidewalks and mobility. It includes $18.3 million to reconstruct or replace the pavement on residential roads;
- Proposition C provides $30 million for drainage projects throughout the city;
- Proposition D totals $40.5 million and would be used to build a new field maintenance facility and modernize the public services building;
- Proposition E includes $12 million to help fund the construction of a new animal shelter, which was approved by voters in a 2019 bond election, but delayed due to financial constraints caused by the pandemic.
The bond also includes $50 million to account for inflation over the next five to seven years.
According to Sugar Land Mayor Joe Zimmerman, they want to give voters the power to decide which projects are important to them.
“They can pick one, two, all five or none and decide what’s meaningful to them and what they’re willing to pay for,” he said.
Deputy City Manager Jennifer May added that the bonds will not increase the property tax rate by more than 5 cents over the next five to seven years. A homeowner with a house valued at $500,000 dollars would see an initial tax increase of about $5 per month, according to the city.
“That could be about $20 per month by 2030 and that’s all excluding of course, the additional impacts of property revaluation,” she said.
Early voting starts Monday and runs through Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.