City delays Next, recreation center bond vote
By Grace Lovins
After reviewing proposed language and schedules for a bond proposal to pay for Birmingham’s new community center and home for NEXT senior services, city commissioners delayed submitting a ballot proposal for a May special election during the Monday, January 13, meeting, looking instead toward an August special election.
As part of the ongoing process to establish a new home for NEXT senior services and a recreation center in Birmingham that will include the YMCA, the city is seeking approval from voters for a bond proposal of $32 million to pay for the construction of the new building at 400 E. Lincoln.
Pat McGow, with the city’s bond counsel Miller Canfield, presented the draft language and schedule to the commission which showed a 20-year bond with a millage rate of .52 mills.
If the commission were to approve the proposal for a May vote and voters approved the bond proposal, the city would not be required to issue the bond right away, said McGow. He said, with a bond issue the city is supposed to spend all the money within three years, but the timing of the bond sale would be determined by when the city receives the construction costs.
Most commissioners felt that a May vote was too soon, saying the city would not have adequate time to educate the public on the proposal. To meet the requirements for a May election, the commission must come to a decision at the next meeting on Monday, February 10.
“I think $32 million is going to get a lot of sticker shock when [voters] see that,” said commissioner Katie Schafer. “My concern is that is what the voters see and that’s what sticks in their heads. … We have to be very careful if we want it to be successful.”
For a May election, absentee voter ballots would be mailed out to voters toward the end of March, 45 days before the election. Several commissioners worried that this timeframe would not allow the city to communicate information about the bond to voters, which could lead to a failed proposal.
“If we do a May vote and it fails, we’re dead in the water,” said commissioner Anthony Long.
Per city manager Jana Decker's comments prefacing the commission’s discussion, the commission is still roughly two weeks away from seeing a detailed program for the building as well as contracts and agreements between the city and NEXT and the city and YMCA for the operation of the building. Some commissioners felt that this information is important to see before moving forward with a bond proposal.
“May sounds like it’s too early, and it sounds like we’re about to get a lot of data in about two weeks, and this bond issue, should it go out in May, we would have to decide by February 10, the same time we’re going to get all this data. … Let’s get this data and not push this forward now,” said commissioner Jason Emerine.
Commissioners instead looked to push the vote back to an August special election, for which the city must submit the ballot proposal by May 13. While no formal action was taken, they requested McGow and city staff come back with a timeline for an August bond vote.
The commission took no formal action on the bond proposal. Mayor pro tem Clinton Baller was absent from the meeting.