HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Henrico County officials will host their first of several community meetings on the bond referendum that residents will see on the ballot when they head to the polls this year. The county is asking voters to approve the issuance of $511million in general obligations to fund projects in four areas.
The largest portion is $340.5-million for schools to rebuild and expand several schools and build three new ones.
Under the plan, the county build new elementary schools in the Fairfield and Three Chopt districts and rebuild:
- R.C. Longan Elementary School
- Highland Springs Elementary School
- Jackson Davis Elementary School
- Quioccasin Middle School
There's also $83 million for public safety to improve firehouses and build a new training center.
Another $37 million for parks and rec would mostly be spent for road and park improvements around Three Chopt. And $50 million would need to be approved for flood prevention and storm water drainage.
"The ones that go first that are the highest priority. In fact, we have five projects that the Board of Supervisors has already funded, and designated funds for. Those are clearly the highest priority projects," Henrico County Deputy County Manager for Administration Brandon Hinton said. "Three of those are schools projects. One is some park improvement, some road improvements tied to the park question. And then one's tied to a new firehouse in the Varina magisterial district."
Hinton said each of the four categories will be a separate question on the ballot, allowing voters to choose to approve some and reject others if they desire. In Chesterfield County, an even larger bond referendum is being held this year, but voters there will only have the option to approve or reject the entire proposal.
"It's a transparent way to do it and it's also it's the most democratic, we believe. So, if I want to approve a school question, but not approve the recreation parks question I have the ability to do so. So, we've never believed in the all-or-nothing approach, if you will," said Hinton of Henrico's decision to split up the questions.
He said the county does not have contingencies in place if any part is rejected.
"If a question gets voted down, if you will, then we need to regroup as a staff and as a community and figure out why that is," he said. "Is it a project specific that is undesired by the public? Is it the mechanism by which they're funded?"
The county said there are no tax increases tied to this plan and, if approved, they'll issue the bonds over the next six years.
Hinton said the county is able to take on this debt capacity as its been paying off the debt incurred from the 2016 bond referendum voters approved. He said projects from that time are in various stages of completion.
"You may see the new Tucker High School, for example, the new Highland Springs High School. Those are two examples of what a bond referendum can do for the community," Hinton said. "But, we also have a number of projects that are in various forms of design or construction going on across the county."
Wednesday's meeting begins at 6 p.m., but people can join virtually.
Early voting on the bond referendum begins on September 23.
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