Shreveport voters to face $186 million bond proposal

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — Shreveport voters will face decisions on three bond proposals this fall.

City Council members agreed 4-3 Tuesday to put the matters on the Nov. 16 ballots.

The propositions total $186 million, down from the $220 million that originally was proposed.

At stake are everything from a new police headquarters, of which the current one is in bad shape, to new fire stations and fire engines to better protect the public, along with many other items.

The council’s approval leaves District A Councilman Willie Bradford and other supporters three months to lay out their case to voters.

"I agree that we must allow them the opportunity to make the decision of whether they want to move this city forward."

Not everyone is a fan of the bond package.

District D’s Grayson Boucher is one of the three council members who voted against putting the bond issues on the Nov. 16 ballot.

"I just think that we could slow down a little bit and look at these a little bit closer."

Here's a breakdown of how that $186 million would be spent:

• $32 million on water and sewerage,
• $76 million on the Fire and Police Departments and SPAR, and,
• $77.8 million on streets and drainage.

Boucher has questions, for example, about the $20 million earmarked for a new police headquarters.

“I would like to know where’s the police station going to go? We have $20 million in here but we have no location.”

The first message, one that Mayor Adrian Perkins has talked about, is that the bond issues will not be a tax increase, just the continuation of an existing one.

The bond proposals mean a little something different for each City Council district.

For example, District F Councilman James Green explained, their goal in parts of west Shreveport is economic development.

That would require infrastructure improvements to attract businesses that he hopes the bond issues would help deliver.

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