2024 Bond Referendum

Overview

ABOUT THE 2024 BOND REFERENDUM

Chapel Hill residents had the chance to vote on a municipal bond referendum on November 5, 2024.
General obligation bonds are one of the most cost-effective ways for cities and towns to make major infrastructure investments.
Your vote will decide if the Town of Chapel Hill can borrow up to $44 million in general obligation bonds.
The Town will be able to borrow this money without raising property taxes. That's because the Town has a debt fund that annually allocates a portion of our property tax rate to pay existing debt service and build future debt capacity.
On May 15, 2024, the Town Council adopted a resolution stating their intent to proceed with this referendum on November 5, 2024 for the amounts and purposes set below. On June 17, 2024, the Town Council adopted a resolution approving the details for the 2024 referendum.
These bond orders reflect Town Council's strategic goals around affordable housing, connectivity, community safety, and economic stewardship. The bond orders you'll see on the ballot are:
- Affordable Housing
- Public Facilities
- Streets & Sidewalks
- Parks & Recreation Facilities
- Open Space & Greenways
The Town's bond referendum is different from the County/School bond referendum. For information on that, visit http://www.chccs.org/schoolbond.

Unlike some other referenda, the Town will be able to borrow this money without raising property taxes.

BOND ORDERS AND POTENTIAL PROJECTS

We use the word "potential" so that if things change, we have the flexibility to use those monies for another project within the same bond order/priority area.

Affordable Housing ($15 million)

With these funds, the Town’s goal will be to support the development of affordable housing projects that align with the Town's Affordable Housing Plan and Investment Strategy. Projects funded through this bond order may construct new affordable housing, preserve existing affordable housing, or acquire property to be used for affordable housing. These funds would allow the Town to leverage state and federal funding as well as local and regional partnerships.

Public Facilities ($15 million)

With these funds, the Town's goal will be to replace Fire Stations 3 and 4 with new facilities. Fire Station 3 is located near the intersection of Franklin Street and Elliott Road and is 54 years old. Fire Station 4 is located near the intersection of Weaver Dairy Road and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and is 42 years old. Both buildings are well past their useful life span by fire industry standards, and both face significant issues that are beyond repair. This includes failing HVAC and plumbing systems, aging roofs, and significant foundation issues.

Streets & Sidewalks ($7.5 million)

With these funds, the Town's goal will be to improve and expand sidewalk connectivity and ADA accessibility. Possible projects include the Fordham Boulevard sidepath from Cleland Drive to Willow Drive and Ephesus Church Road sidewalks from Pinehurst Drive to Colony Woods Drive. This funding would also support high-priority sidewalk projects in areas close to schools and transit.

Parks & Rec Facilities ($4.5 million)

With these funds, the Town's goal will be to replace the artificial turf on the playing fields at Homestead Park. Additional uses for this funding include potentially replacing the climbing wall at Community Center, building a splash pad, or enhancing/expanding pickleball courts. These types of projects have been consistently identified as priorities in a number of community engagement and planning efforts in the last several years. In the next two years, the Town will complete a Parks & Recreation Master Plan, and community input received as a part of that planning process will further inform projects funded with this bond order.

Open Space & Greenways ($2 million)

With these funds, the Town's goal will be to construct the Bolin Creek Greenway extension from Umstead Park to Estes Drive Extension. This will add miles of connected greenways as part of the Town's Everywhere to Everywhere Greenway Initiative to create a multimodal network to connect schools, shopping, parks, healthcare opportunities, and UNC.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a bond referendum?

A bond referendum is a process that gives voters the power to decide if a town, city, or county should be authorized to raise funds through the issuance of general obligation bonds.

What’s a general obligation bond?

A general obligation (G.O.) bond is a form of borrowing in which a town, city, or county pledges its full faith and credit to repay the debt with interest over a specified term.

Why use bond financing for these projects?

G.O. bonds are generally the least costly financing option available for funding these projects.

If the bond referendum passes, when will funds be available?

Voters give the Town the authority to borrow money - then the Town will need to issue the debt. In order to manage our debt capacity, we will issue the debt in phases, not all at once. We expect to issue funds in 2025, 2027, and 2030.

What happens if the bonds don’t pass?

If the bond referendum doesn't pass, the Town will still pursue some of these critical projects. The cost of financing them will be higher because the Town will have to use an alternate financing method.

How were these potential projects identified?

The Town has a backlog of capital needs and potential projects. When identifying possible projects for these bond orders, Town Council and staff considered several factors, including shovel-readiness, feasibility, alignment with strategic goals, and availability of other funding sources.

Why are the projects called “potential”?

If approved, the bonds will be issued over the course of 4-6 years. The Town uses the word "potential" so that if things change, the Town has the flexibility to use those monies for another project within the same bond order/priority area.

How is this different from the school bond?

Orange County has a $300 million school bond referendum on the November 5 ballot. For information about that ballot, please visit theOrange County website.

What language will I see on the ballots?

There will be five orders to vote on on your ballot. The language for each one will be very similar to this:

Additional property taxes may be levied on property located in the Town of Chapel Hill in an amount sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on bonds if approved by the following ballot question.

Shall the order adopted by the Town Council on June 17, 2024, authorizing [$] bonds plus interest to pay capital costs of [purpose], and providing that additional taxes may be levied in an amount sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds, be approved, in light of the following:

(1) The estimated cumulative cost over the life of the bond, using the highest interest rate charged for similar debt over the last 20 years, would be $ (dollar amount).

(2) The estimated amount of property tax liability increase for each one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) of property tax value to service the cumulative cost over the life of the bond provided above would be zero.

[ ] YES [ ] NO

The ballot says, "Additional property taxes may be levied." Are you raising taxes?

No. The language on the ballot is prescribed by the NC state legislature.

The last paragraph on the ballot requires the Town to note what the tax increase impact would be. As highlighted below, the direct tax impact of the bonds would be zero.

"(2) The estimated amount of property tax liability increase for each one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) of property tax value to service the cumulative cost over the life of the bond provided above would be zero."