By Dennis Box, The Courier-Herald
A new city hall bond, parks bond, community center bond - one, two or three bonds - what to do, what to do.
With their ambitious plans for Bonney Lake finally coming into focus, the City Council must make the tough decisions on how get the green stuff to pay the piper.
One of the most pressing issues facing the Council is whether to run a municipal bond; or how many.
At a March 16 workshop, Council members agreed to begin the process of placing a parks bond on the November ballot. The bond would range between $6 and $12 million. However if the City Hall or community center is placed into the package, the equation of dollars is radically changed.
"We don't know yet," Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman said. "I would think you could separate them into three. People might not vote for parks and City Hall together. We need to read what the voters are thinking."
The bar for passing a municipal bond is a 60 percent approval or a super majority.
"Without seeing the actual request for the bond I can't say for certain," said Lori Augino, elections manager for the Pierce County Auditor. "Generally a bond of any kind requires a 60 percent validation and a 40 percent turnout based on the last general election."
General elections are held every November. For a bond to pass this November in Bonney Lake there must be at least 1,119 total votes, which is 40 percent of the November 2003 turnout, plus a 60 percent approval.
Running a bond in a presidential election year usually makes the 40 percent turnout a piece of cake.
The city will also have to pay the auditor's office to run the bond. According to Augino the cost is based on the number of registered voters and is split between all the taxing districts calling for an election.
The decision on how to structure the bond or bonds is one of the many difficult puzzles facing the Council as it sets its sails for the future of Bonney Lake.
"We have some time here. We need to gauge the community and see what their feelings and ideas are,' Councilman Jim Rackley said. "The parks bond has a 99 percent chance of going to the ballot. We have to decide if we want to add the city hall and community center to the ballot. When you tell voters exactly what you're spending their money on you have a much better chance. They're pretty smart."
Another factor in the equation is the city has already purchased land for the new city hall and possibly a community center.
At the March 9 City Council meeting the members agreed to buy 13 acres of land next to the Target development from T&S Properties L.L.C., a company owned by the Corliss family. The purchase price was $1.13 million.
The deal is contingent upon the city beginning to build a new city hall or community center within five years.
If the city fails to show its is moving ahead with the project, T&S Properties has the option to buy the property back.
Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com
