What is in Bernalillo County's $40.5 million bond package?

Oct. 6—Should local libraries get more money to buy books? Should money be spent on renovations at the Raymond G. Sanchez Community Center or to complete the next phase of the Mesa del Sol regional recreation complex? Voters will decide in this year's general election.

There will be six Bernalillo County bond questions on the Nov. 5 ballot, allowing voters to weigh in on a $40.5 million bond package.

The bond questions include $2.5 million for library materials; $8.8 million for public safety facilities and other county buildings; $11.7 million for parks and recreation facilities; almost $10.7 million for transportation facilities; $5.1 million for storm drainage and utilities infrastructure; and $1.7 million for public housing.

General obligation bonds are a reliable source of revenue for the county's capital projects and allow the county to tackle more projects, said Kathy Korte, chief of government affairs for Bernalillo County.

"When voters approve these bonds, we don't increase taxes," Korte said.

All of the projects in the bond package are within the county's six-year capital improvement plan. Many of the projects within the bond package will be fully funded if the bonds are approved or are close to fully funded, Korte said.

Once the county gets authorization from voters to issue bonds, the entire package of $40.5 million in bonds is not sold at once, Korte said, but instead the county sells bonds one or two times per year. The bonds have to be sold within four years of voter approval and the bond money has to be spent within three years of the bond sale.

Money for libraries

Voters will be asked to approve $2.5 million in 2024 bond funding for the public libraries in Bernalillo County and the city of Albuquerque. The bond money would be used to acquire and upgrade books, ebooks and other materials in the library system.

From 2010 to 2022, voters have approved $11.6 million in general obligation bonds for the library system.

Public safety dollars

The second county bond question will ask voters to approve $8.8 million in bonds for public safety facilities, fleet and county buildings.

That $8.8 million would go to 12 different projects, including $2 million for an early learning pre-K facility. Bernalillo County has already secured $8.2 million for the $14.1 million project, which would demolish an existing PB&J Family Services building in the South Valley, then plan, design and build a new facility.

The bond package includes $1.4 million for a fire and rescue aerial tower, a type of very tall ladder truck that can respond to high-rise fires or emergencies. The $2.4 million purchase already has $1 million in committed funding, so the bond dollars would fully fund the aerial tower. Fire stations 32 and 38 would also get $600,000 for renovations.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office would get $800,000 for a shooting range. BCSO would also get $200,000 for office renovations, which will cost an estimated $2 million.

The county's 2nd Judicial District courthouse would get $1 million for an expansion project. The overall project will cost an estimated $72 million. None of the funding has been secured yet, but Bernalillo County will request $2.5 million from state lawmakers in 2025 to go toward that project as well, Korte said.

The county facilities would get $1.3 million of $1.6 million needed for climate sustainability and efficiency efforts.

Parks and community centers

Voters will be asked to approve $11.7 million for parks and recreational facilities.

The most expensive of those projects is $2.2 million for the Mesa del Sol Regional Outdoor Sports Complex. The dollars should fund phase four of Mesa del Sol construction, which includes more parking, two more synthetic turf fields and part of a building for bathrooms and meeting space.

Phase two of Mesa del Sol includes four synthetic turf fields that were completed earlier this year and are getting used by youth soccer teams, field lighting that is going in soon, and utility infrastructure and parking. Phase three is under construction and includes six natural turf fields and parking.

The overall project has an estimated cost of $48 million.

Several years ago, the Bernalillo County Commission committed to putting $2 million to $3 million in general obligation bonds each two-year cycle toward Mesa del Sol. That financial commitment from the county helped convince state legislators to approve more money for the project, said Parks, Recreation and Open Space Planning Manager John Barney. An influx of state and federal dollars in the last few years has progressed the project rapidly, Barney said.

"Part of the goal here is really to have a regional complex for all of the state of New Mexico, but also to host regional tournaments," Barney said. "But it also serves our local communities in the southwest and southeast who don't have as easy access to, say, the (town of) Bernalillo complex, which is up north."

The bond question also includes $2 million to complete phase two and phase three of the Raymond G. Sanchez Community Center in the North Valley. The overall project costs an estimated $6 million and $1.4 million in funding has previously been committed.

The Westside Community Center in the South Valley would also get $400,000 in bond funding, while the Sandia Ranch Ag-Life Center would get $1.5 million and Los Vecinos Community Center would get $1.5 million.

The Near North Valley Life Center project would get $1 million in bond funding. Unlike the other community center projects, there is no other funding committed yet to the Near North Valley Life Center, which has an estimated cost of $8 million.

Road work, bike lanes and streetlights

The transportation bond question asks voters to approve $10.6 million for transportation facilities, which includes everything from hyper-local needs such as bike lanes to nationally significant projects like the Interstate 40 Tradeport corridor.

The project that would get the most bond dollars would be Bridge Boulevard improvements, which would get $2 million. The overall project has a cost estimate of $21.2 million and $4.6 million in funding has already been committed.

The bond question would also authorize $1.9 million for the I-40 Tradeport corridor, a $30 billion infrastructure project that stretches from Los Angeles west along I-40, and $1 million for drainage improvements on Isleta.

Voters will be asked to approve $5.1 million for storm drainage and utility infrastructure. Much of the money in bond question five is to provide matching funds for federal dollars.

The bond package includes $1.1 million to match federal money for a storm drain component of the Alameda Drain Trail, and $900,000 to match federal money for a storm drain component on Isleta.

Public housing

Voters will be asked to authorize $1.7 million for public housing. The county's existing public housing, El Centro and Seybold Village, would get $700,000 for upgrades and renovations. That project is estimated at $5.3 million and already has $1 million in committed funding.

The bond question would also approve $1 million for affordable senior housing.