Members of the Montgomery City Council will again consider moving forward on Tuesday with plans to borrow $375 million for a downtown convention center expansion and other city projects.
According to city officials, the proposed bond program would be used to pay borrowing fees and fund:
- Convention Center expansion
- Housing infrastructure improvements
- A new sports complex and amphitheater
- City facility and service enhancements
- Neighborhood improvement projects across Montgomery
According to the city's estimates, $200 million of the $375 million debt would go towards expanding the convention center.
Officials with the Office of Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed have said they have "significantly more revenue than needed to cover new debt" and can "responsibly support the proposed $375 million bond."
"This is a moment defined by optimism and momentum. Montgomery is prepared, Montgomery is ready, and Montgomery is financially positioned to move confidently into its future," Reed said in a statement on Thursday. "Our future is bright. This bond is part of a larger vision of building a Montgomery that thrives today, tomorrow, and for generations to come."
Montgomery City Councilman Glen Pruitt told 1819 News on Wednesday that the city possibly adding new debt was a "huge concern."
"Right now, I'm against it. Picking up another $22 to $25 million every year, which would put us at roughly almost $50 million a year. A lot of the money we've used to pay that debt is because we don't have enough employees in departments, that's fall out through the budget. If we were fully staffed, there's no way in the world we could pay that. That's a huge concern," Pruitt said. "We're paying $25 million today, that's our current bond payment. It's roughly $200 million we've been paying off. Of course, that will go down over time. If you pick up another $25 million, that gets expensive in a hurry. If we go back and try to hire 200 employees in the police department which we need today, we're not going to be able to afford it."
Pruitt continued, "I think there's way too much money in that thing. At the end of the day the city's job is to give people police protection, fire protection, pick up your trash, pave your streets, make sure you've got street lights. We've got to take care of those basic services before we start doing convention centers and everything else."
Other members of the city council didn't return requests for comment from 1819 News.
Everette Johnson, a retired Montgomery Police officer and president of Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge 11, told 1819 News the money would be better spent on public safety needs.
"There's just a perception of fear and not being safe when you come to Montgomery and that's got to be dealt with. The Mayor needs to realize that and take that into account. I think the chief is doing it, but that's going to take time. It's not just going to happen over night," Johnson said. "I'm about the city doing things to enhance it's image, enhance tourism and growth, but at the same time Montgomery has a public safety perception or fear perception due to public safety. You have to address the public safety fear before you start working on other things. I know that Chief Graboys has been doing that and is working to better things for the police department and with trying to recruit numbers and get people where they want to be to create a safe environment. Perhaps, that will fall into place and that will be in line by the time all this bond issue comes out but really you've got to put public safety in the mix when you start looking at bringing in entertainment venues and expanding those type of areas."
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