Bettendorf city staff is recommending to the city council a five-year capital improvement plan which would slow the rate of debt financing and result in a debt margin of 29 percent by fiscal 2017-18. The current city debt margin is down to 20 percent, and state law limits municipal debt margins to 15 percent.
The capital improvement plan for the coming 2013-14 fiscal year calls for issuing $10 million in general obligation bonds mostly for street improvements, $700,000 in bonds for the first year of a projected 6-year $4.2 million for development of the new Forest Grove Park, $700,000 for updating of the Family Museum exhibit hall, $4 million for sewer system upgrades and $2 million for stormwater management projects.
The council is expected to vote on the fiscal 2013-14 portion of the CIP and spending plan at its meeting Wednesday, January 2.
While the overall amount of city debt won't go down over the next five years, the amount of new debt to be issued by the city is to slow over the coming five years under the new five-year CIP. With city property valuations projected to climb between 3.5 to 4 percent annually, the debt margin is expected to reach 29 percent in five years.
The amount of general obligation bonds projected to be issued by the city over the coming five years would total $10.4 million, $13.1 million, $10.4 million, $10.4 million and $8.7 million, respectively.
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