Bend city councilors being asked to approve issuing $40.1 million in bonds for various uses
Also will review options to fill transportation funding gap, including utility fee; hearing on Parkside Place
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Several major money matters come before Bend city councilors Wednesday evening, as well as a significant land-use hearing, but the most immediate funding request involves the city's plan to issue $40.1 million in bonds this May, for a variety of uses.
As an issue summary states, $8.3 million of the funds would go toward transportation projects in the five-year capital improvement plan, including bicycle greenways and walkways, improvements at the intersections of Butler Market and Wells Acres roads, and at Neff Road and Purcell Boulevard, and Wilson Avenue corridor improvements not funded by the voter-approved general obligation bond.
Another $3.5 million in proceeds will go toward acquiring vehicles and equipment, from a heavy-duty engine and medic vehicle for Bend Fire to several Street & Operations Department vehicles and information technology gear.
A $10 million portion will be used to buy core area property already approved by councilors for development goals, from affordable housing to a possible new City Hall. Similarly, $3.2 million is to finance urban renewal projects, such extending Cooley Road and Talus Place in the Juniper Ridge area to the east.
And $13.6 million of the bond revenue will go toward designing the city’s new Public Works campus in the Juniper Ridge area, bringing together several departments now spread around the city.
Revenue sources to make debt-service payments on the bonds include transportation system development charges, property taxes, ambulance revenues, the gas tax, franchise fees and general fund support.
The council meeting begins at 5 p.m. with an hour-long work session bringing all (including new councilors) up to speed on transportation funding and the remaining gap between needs and funding, after voters' 2020 approval of a $190 transportation general obligation fund.
The city’s most recent Transportation System Plan lays out (starting on page 125) various revenue-generating options, including a possible Transportation Utility Fee, then estimated at $10 a month per household.
Councilors are also will be asked to formally send a five-year local operating levy for Bend Fire and Rescue to the May ballot, as discussed at the last council meeting.
Also, a public hearing is planned, along with first reading of two ordinances to proceed with the Parkside Place master plan, on about 37 acres at the eastern edge of the city’s urban growth boundary, between Highway 20 and Bear Creek Road.
The plan, bringing to reality a pilot project in the works since 2018, provides for 346 housing units, 40 percent of which would be made affordable to households earning 80 percent of the area’s median income. About 52% would be single-family homes, 31% multi-family units and 16% townhomes. It includes a four-acre park and extension of the Big Sky Park regional trail.
The council agenda and documents for those and other items can be found here.
