Sugar Land City Council is slated to hold a special meeting Aug. 14 to officially approve the placement of a $90 million general obligation bond on the Nov. 5 ballot.
“Do we have more than $90 million [worth of work to do]?” Sugar Land Mayor Joe Zimmerman asked during a June 25 workshop meeting. “Absolutely, it’s probably more like $250 million.”
During the workshop, all City Council members—with the exception of absent At Large Position 1 Council Member Himesh Gandhi—were in favor of taking steps to place the bond on the ballot in November rather than in May 2020.
“Staff has designed the projects, and not only do they address the needs but individually they touch each [district],” Zimmerman said. “The goal was to make sure that it was not unbalanced.”
The bond funds would go toward drainage improvements, street projects, and facilities and public safety projects.
In a post on Nextdoor, Community Impact Newspaper asked if residents would support the bond. Some said it sounds reasonable, while others felt some projects seem frivolous.
Shelly Kempster, a Covington Woods resident, said she supports the necessary drainage projects but feels the city should make better use of existing resources before adding buildings.
“The rampant over-development has played into our drainage issues,” Kempster said via Nextdoor.
Prior to this bond election was the park bond, in which voters approved two of three propositions totaling about $30 million in November 2013.
As priorities have shifted following major rain events such as Hurricane Harvey, drainage projects carry the most weight in the upcoming projected bond total with $47 million. The most recent heavy rain event May 7 brought reported flooding to 80 homes, according to city spokesperson Doug Adolph.
“Drainage improvements, of course, are near and dear to all of us after [Hurricane] Harvey but also May 7 [flooding],” said Chris Steubing, Sugar Land assistant city manager.
Proposed street projects total $9.86 million for various projects within the city. About $32.9 million is designated to public safety and facility projects, including an emergency operations center, a public safety training facility and a new animal shelter.
A maximum tax rate increase of $0.03 in fiscal year 2021 would be needed to support the bond, Steubing said.
“These are all needs,” he said. “Some of these projects have been in existence for years, and staff has done a tremendous amount of work on them.”
