A roughly $50 million bond proposal is expected to be presented to the Buda City Council at its July 1 meeting.

On June 25, the committee charged with recommending items for the potential bond hammered out a proposal that recommends improvements to roads and drainage systems, facilities upgrades, enhancements to downtown and parks and trails projects.

But there remains a single hanging chad. The committee almost unanimously preferred separating a police station from a new complex that would house the city hall and public library although it was concerned the cost of a standalone police department would be too steep a price for Buda's taxpaying voters to accept come November, when the possible proposition would come to a vote.

The bond is also all but certain to be broken up into more than one proposition. The city's lawyer on bond matters said the Texas Attorney General's office would not support a consolidated bond package in this case. The committee is recommending breaking up the bond into three propositions: roads and drainage; parks, trails and downtown; and facilities.

A $28 million city complex that would house a city hall, public library and police station had been eyed by the committee as the main option to address needed facility upgrades. But most of the committee did not support combining the police station with the others because of safety concerns.

The committee did not appear to be convinced that building a standalone police station would be the right choice, either, because designs call for a construction that committee members believed to be too big for the department.

Sidonna Foust, the city's finance director, said splitting them into separate facilities also creates additional costs for the city. The more building space the city has, the more it has to pay in utilities, she said.

"From a financial standpoint, it is more cost-effective to pay utilities for potentially one large building rather than three individual buildings," Foust said. "Please consider the operations and maintenance costs of these buildings as we go forward."

The roads and drainage projects come out of the city's respective master plans for those subjects. Buda City Park is set to get some touch-ups under the proposal, and new trails are being recommended.

Buda City Council will review the proposal on July 1 but could have the committee meet another time to finalize the recommendation.