Newark residents and non-resident property owners will vote Tuesday on whether the city borrows nearly $28 million.
The bond debt would pay for improvements to the city’s sewer and water systems, a park, and a stormwater facility on a former University of Delaware dorm site—as well as several smaller projects.
City officials have argued that using debt to finance projects with long-term functionality spreads the cost out over both present and future users.
The referendum consists of four questions, so voters can weigh in on each category of projects separately.
City Councilwoman Jen Wallace, who represents District 3, says she still has some concerns about parts of the referendum she calls “regular maintenance.”
“Taking on debt makes sense for large, long-term projects, like the purchase of the Rodney dorm site and the stormwater facility. Some of the other projects, I’m not as sure of,” she said.
Smaller projects which could be financed by bond debt if all parts of the referendum pass include road repaving, parking lot maintenance and rebuilding of the Municipal Building’s back deck.
Newark resident and professional planner Heather Donegan plans to vote in favor of all four parts of the referendum.
“The stormwater park I think is brilliant. You know, you’re taking a piece of land that would otherwise probably just be houses and making it into something that fixes our stormwater problems and is a community asset that we need in that part of the city,” she said.
Newark’s finance director David Del Grande has told Delaware Public Media the city would try to get funding for some of the projects from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which has lower interest rates than bond financing.
Polls open at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8:00 p.m. Polling places can be found here.
