By Brittany Anderson
BUDA - Buda is one step closer to seeing improved roads and parks.
The Buda Bonds package was unanimously approved by city council during a special meeting on Aug. 12. The bond will now be placed on November’s election ballot.
The bond package has been deliberated on by the Buda Bond Advisory Committee (BBAC) since February 2021. The $88.7 million package includes two propositions, Proposition A for roads and Proposition B for parks. Based on the average home evaluation of $300,000, the package is expected to cost the average homeowner around $5/month in additional taxes.
Mayor Lee Urbanovsky expressed concern with the wording on an item within Proposition A, saying that its allocation of $5 million towards “miscellaneous small mobility improvements” is unclear and might throw voters off.
“It’s hard to determine what I’m getting for $5 million,” Urbanovsky said. “It feels like a blank check without something tied to it.”
Jeff Barton, co-founder of Gap Strategies, a consulting firm that has assisted BBAC with the bond package, explained that the funds allow for flexibility within the package.
“You have a lot of roads that some members of the council or the committee were interested in seeing move forward, but had a really high price tag attached to the construction,” Barton said. “You’re also a very fast growing and changing city. From our perspective, this [money] gives you the flexibility to address some of those changes. I think that is explainable to folks. We would argue that it may be some of the most valuable money you’ll have.”
The council considered taking a 15 minute recess to speak with the consultants and provide more specific language in regard to the projects. Council members Matt Smith, Ray Bryant and Terry Cummings all agreed that the wording on the ordinance that voters will see is clear, and that is what the council was voting on, not the document the council was looking at with the list of projects.
“I think we’re getting too caught up in what is a working document versus a legal document,” Cummings said. “We need to concentrate on the language and structure of what is in the actual item we’re voting on, not a working document that is an outline of how the projects are going to be funded and how much money is going into them.”
Council member Monica Davidson also said that it is important for the council to focus on educating citizens about the bond in layman’s terms.
The consultants agreed to take the council’s advice and rework some of the language within the proposition.
