SAN ANTONIO – Big elections are coming up in May and one of the biggest locally is the $1.2 billion bond program.
2022 Bond Program Tri-Chair Brandon Logan joined Leading SA Sunday to discuss some of the projects included in the bond.
At $1.2 billion, this is the largest bond program in the city’s history, but it’s not projected to increase the city’s tax rate.
There are six propositions and 183 projects included in the bond.
“The dollars come from the general fund and it’s over a five-year period of time. I think we’re also in a unique position this year with some of the COVID relief dollars through ARPA, TXDOT, et cetera. We’ve been able to leverage nearly $270 million in addition to the $1.2 billion coming out of our general budget over the next five years,” Logan said.
Logan explained that the bond proposal covers a variety of topics ranging from roads to housing.
“You think about coming out of COVID and some of the catastrophes that we have experienced individually and collectively. We needed an infrastructure bill that would help us to, you know, address the needs now, but also to put the infrastructure in place for a growing city like San Antonio. I personally love that we are investing in areas for essential workers, those individuals that are living at or below the poverty line to ensure that we are adding strength and vitality in our programs,” Logan said.
$1.2 billion is no joking matter, but the idea is that it helps the city now and helps prepare us for the future, Logan said.
“Population growth, high demand in some of these workforce areas and we need housing, you know, so six propositions, as Sarah mentioned, are on the ballot. Five propositions are project-specific, 183 projects to be specific. And then you have housing. Housing is not project-based, it’s priority-focused. And so oftentimes, people think about the increase in housing costs and we’re going to address that. But we’re also going to support those individuals on fixed income like seniors who perhaps need to make improvements to the house to ensure that they remain in their houses,” Logan said.
The formation of the bond proposal involved a lot of community members to make sure there was a lot of input, Logan said.
“The great thing about it is we had a unified council that understood where we’re at, the state of our community at this time. And so each council member had appointments to each respective bond committee and, also, the mayor had appointments. And so you talk about city staff plus citizens that are engaged in this process to produce what we’re looking at on the screen today. So the six propositions, as I’m speaking to other residents today, this was shaped by us, volunteers, individuals that are paying taxes like you and I to ensure that we are addressing the most area critical areas of need,” Logan said.
If you want to learn more about the bond package, you can visit takingcareofsa.com.
You can watch the full Leading SA interview with Logan in the video player above.