The school bond – and the five bonds that Chapel Hill put on the ballot – have passed by wide margins.
This is great news.
What’s in the school bond
The school bond passed, with 67% voting yes and 32% voting no.
This is one of the most significant investments in our school system in years—a $300 million school bond, which will be accompanied by more than a hundred million dollars of additional funding. The bond will be split between Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools ($175 million) and Orange County Schools ($125 million). Our current understanding is that Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools are looking to replace Carrboro Elementary School, replace Estes Hills Elementary School, and replace Frank Porter Graham Elementary School. And for Orange County Schools, the current understanding is there would be a new elementary school, the replacement of Orange Middle School and an additional major project or major renovation that would cost about $27 million. (This can change if, for example, a roof caves in and needs immediate replacement.)
What’s in the five bonds in Chapel Hill
As we detailed last week, the five bonds in Chapel Hill concern:
- Affordable Housing
- Public Facilities
- Streets & Sidewalks
- Parks & Recreation Facilities
- Open Space & Greenways
All five passed by substantial margins.
The Town will be able to borrow this money without raising property taxes. That’s because the Town has a debt fund that annually allocates a portion of our property tax rate to pay existing debt service and build future debt capacity. And this money will go towards a variety of needs that would benefit residents of all life stages and ages, including:
Affordable Housing ($15 million)
With these funds, the Town’s goal will be to support the development of affordable housing projects that align with the Town’s Affordable Housing Plan and Investment Strategy, which we wrote about here.
Passage of the affordable housing plan was a big deal. It acknowledges that tackling affordability requires multifaceted, well-funded efforts. It acknowledges that UNC and market rate developers can be a part of the solution but that we cannot simply sit back and demand they solve the problem for us. Affordable housing is a generational crisis – it’s all hands on deck to address it.
Public Facilities ($15 million)
With these funds, the Town’s goal will be to replace Fire Stations 3 (54 years old) and 4 (42 years old) with new facilities. Both buildings are well past their useful life span by fire industry standards, and both face significant issues that are beyond repair. This includes failing HVAC and plumbing systems, aging roofs, and significant foundation issues.
Streets & Sidewalks ($7.5 million)
With these funds, the Town’s goal will be to improve and expand sidewalk connectivity and ADA accessibility. This funding would also support high-priority sidewalk projects in areas close to schools and transit.
More sidewalks and more ADA accessibility? ?to our ?s.
Parks & Rec Facilities ($4.5 million)
With these funds, the Town’s goal will be to replace the artificial turf on the playing fields at Homestead Park, a known need championed by the Parks and Recs Advisory Board. Additional uses for this funding include potentially replacing the climbing wall at Community Center, building a splash pad, or enhancing/expanding pickleball courts.
We have been long been champions of the splash pad and the pickleball community, and know that the climbing wall needs some ❤️. There has been a long and concerted effort to replace the playing fields at Homestead Park, which are used by people of all ages throughout the week. We support these projects.
Open Space & Greenways ($2 million)
With these funds, the Town’s goal will be to construct the Bolin Creek Greenway extension from Umstead Park to Estes Drive Extension. This will add miles of connected greenways as part of the Town’s Everywhere to Everywhere Greenway Initiative to create a multimodal network to connect schools, shopping, parks, healthcare opportunities, and UNC.
We are really big fans of this one. Connecting more parts of our town east to west, north to south allows more people to get out in nature, commute to UNC or schools or work, and relax. We’ve long championed the Bolin Creek Greenway in Carrboro, and connecting it to Chapel Hill will only enhance the network and allow more people to bike and walk to school, work and around town.