Nacogdoches City Council approves $43.9M bond election

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - The Nacogdoches City Council voted unanimously to move forward with a multi-million general bond election to pay for city projects.

Multiple city projects in Nacogdoches have been waiting for nearly a year to get started. Last September, a voters’ petition halted the city’s plans to use certificates of obligation.

At the time, the city council considered to take on over $20 million of new debt that would have allowed the city to pay for infrastructure projects without voters’ approval.

“Many of the community thought this is the type of thing that should be voted on by the community,” said former member of the Nacogdoches Capital Needs Advisory Committee Philip Blackburn.

Blackburn said in the last several months, he and the committee toured multiple city facilities that were in need of repairs and improvements.

“As a result, we all came together. There’s obviously some people in the committee were more in favor of some things than others, but at the end of the day we all agreed, and it was a unanimous decision to bring these propositions to the voter and let the voter decide,” said Blackburn.

The $43.9 million bond will cover costs for improving and equipping, fire stations, streets, the city airport, drainage, parks, sidewalks, and one city cemetery.

In the last month, the city council held meetings with financial bond advisors to make any final adjustments.

“I trust our community to make the decision for how much debt we carry, and that’s democracy in my opinion,” said Blackburn.

The bond election will be added to the November ballot.

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