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Next Community Meeting! Oct. 29 - West Shreveport Alliance at Bill Cockrell - 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
The City of Shreveport has aggressively paid off its debt. In fact, Shreveport's only remaining general obligation debt comes from the 2011 authorization.
Cities routinely use municipal bonds to finance capital investments for public safety, technology, streets and drainage, park improvements, and economic development.
The 2011 bond included 96 projects and 83 are currently completed. We expect the number of completed 2011 projects to rise to 90 by the end of the year.
This bond does not raise taxes. It lowers them. The 2019 bond continues a portion of the 6.2 mills dedicated to expiring bonds. Property taxes in Shreveport are currently at a 35-year low, and this proposal continues that trend.
Municipal bonds are issued by cities to fund public projects. General obligation bonds are not secured by assets; rather, they are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuer, which, in this case, is the City of Shreveport and its citizens. For this reason, bond proposals are subject to direct taxpayer review.
Cities use municipal bonds to finance capital improvement projects such as police and fire stations, roads, bridges, park improvements, and technological infrastructure.
This will not increase your taxes, and in fact property taxes will go down.
Bond monies go towards capital projects that cannot be funded by the operating budgets in the General Fund. For many projects, bonds are the funding sources available.
Many buildings and critical infrastructure are in great need of repair, and operating budgets cannot support the maintenance costs.
Mayor Perkins and the Council chose two citizens from their districts. After reviewing all of the City directors' greatest needs, the Citizen Committee presented recommendations to Mayor Perkins and the Council.
The City Council then passed the bond proposal by majority vote, recommending it to be sent on to the voters in November.
