Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Venice Commission approves notice to issue $5 million certificate of obligation for streets, facilities and potential animal center
Summary
The Venice City Commission voted June 16 to publish notice of intent for a $5 million certificate of obligation to fund streets, bridges and drainage work and other capital projects, and directed staff to return with project-level data before allocating funds.
The Venice City Commission on June 16 voted to publish notice of intention to issue a $5,000,000 combination tax and revenue certificate of obligation to support capital work including streets, bridges and drainage, possible construction of an animal adoption center, city hall repairs and public safety facility improvements.
City staff and SEMCO presented the proposed financing as part of a longer-term plan that already included 2020, 2022 and 2024 series totaling “summing up to almost $50,000,000,” a staff presenter said during the meeting. The new $5 million issue would be a smaller, interim step and — staff emphasized — would not increase the city’s current property tax rate.
Why it matters: Commissioners framed the CO as a device to smooth capital spending over multiple years and avoid sudden property-tax increases. Commissioner (role) expressed concern about prioritization, saying, “the whole $5,000,000 can be built on streets alone, and it still won't even get us where we need to be,” and pressed staff for clear criteria on which projects would be funded.
Staff said any specific project spending would return to the commission for approval. The presenter told the commission that supporting documents — pavement management ratings, preliminary design and cost estimates — would be supplied to commissioners and made available to the public before contract awards.
The commission approved the motion to publish the notice by voice vote with no recorded opposition. The vote schedules a public-notice and waiting period required by state law before the city may finalize any borrowing.
Next steps: Staff will publish the notice of intention as required by statute and bring project-level recommendations, cost estimates and prioritization criteria back to the commission for final decisions.
