OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Omaha residents seem to really care about their roads and they’ll have the chance to fund repairs and new construction long-term in the upcoming primary election in May.
Two years ago, Omaha residents passed a major street bond that allowed for streets across the city to get repaired faster.
Already, more street bonds are going on the 2022 primary ballot, but there will be no tax increase.
Residents will see six bond issues on the ballot, totaling over $260 million dollars.
These include smaller bonds for public facilities, sewers, fire department equipment, and parks and recreation. But the big money items are for street maintenance and capital improvement projects.
“They’re basically managing the city budget so they don’t ever have to have a tax increase to get this additional funding,” said Michael Piernicky, who serves on the Transportation and Public Policy Board for the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
Piernicky says buying bonds is a cheaper way in the long term for the city to pay for roads, as prices always go up as the years go on.
“The more improvements and infrastructure we can build sooner, the cheaper the infrastructure will be long term in the community,” said Piernicky.
Across all of these bonds, there’s no tax increase, but it ensures money for street maintenance doesn’t go away — continuing the street bond voters passed in 2020 by an additional year.
“This is just to keep that maintenance going,” said Piernicky.
That sets it up to continually appear on ballots every four years during every midterm election.
Piernicky also says these bonds allow the city to get federal dollars as they require the city to match their amount by 20%.
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