St. Charles Seeks $15.7 Million for New Fire Station, Public Works Facility, More

St. Charles voters will be asked in November to approve issuing $15.7 million in general obligation bonds this fall to pay for three big projects.

voted on Tuesday to put the three propositions on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Council members say the projects are necessary to complete and will be done even if residents fail to pass the $15.7 million in propositions. 

 The three propositions are: 

• Proposition 1: Issuing $8.3 million for building a public works facility
• Proposition 2: Issuing $3.3 million for repairing City Hall parking garage
• Proposition 3: Issuing $4.1 million for constructing and furnishing a fire station. The total cost will be $5.4 million but the city has $1.5 million cash for the project

City Administrator Michael Spurgeon said using general obligation bonds will allow the city to save $1 million during the 20-year life of the bonds.

Should residents fail to approve the propositions, the city would seek a different financing method, which could cost more money in the long-term. 

Spurgeon said the city is presenting this as no tax increase bonds which will be paid for using casino revenue, and capacity in the property tax levy that can be put toward debt service.

“By not going forward with the project it helped us to be able to present this in such a way as it’s not a tax increase to property owners,” he said.

Read our past stories about this issue here: