Will the proposed tax rate increase be rescinded after the completion of the projects?

The tax rate is set each year by City Council and no City Council can bind future City Councils as to that rate as a matter of state law. By that same law, future City Councils could roll back the rate at any time or raise it at any time. If City Council votes to lower it while money is still owed on the debt, they would need to make cuts elsewhere in services to pay for it.

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1. What is a General Obligation Bond?
2. What projects are planned to be built if the bonds are approved?
3. How do these projects affect me?
4. Why is it important that I vote in this bond election?
5. Does the City Council support this new bond election?
6. Why weren’t we given an opportunity to decide which projects to put on the ballot? Last time, a citizen committee made a recommendation; so how were these projects selected?
7. What happened to the CIP project request that I submitted online, I don’t see it in the FY20 CIP Book or GO Bond Projects?
8. How do they know the cost of these projects? Have they received bids?
9. When will the projects be completed?
10. If the bonds are approved, does that guarantee the projects will be built?
11. Why is the City holding a bond election rather than paying for the projects as we go?
12. We voted for parks projects in 2013 and they still have not been completed. Why should we trust you to complete these proposed projects in a timely manner?
13. How many propositions will there be?
14. What interest rate would we have to pay? For how long?
15. Would it [issuance of bonds] affect our credit rating?
16. Last bond election we [public] were told appraisals and sales tax could mitigate total tax increase. Why is this one different?
17. Will senior citizens be affected by this increase?
18. If the bonds pass, is the City going to raise the value of my home?
19. What is the bond election's impact on Sugar Land's tax rate?
20. What are property tax impacts if the bonds are approved?
21. Will the proposed tax rate increase be rescinded after the completion of the projects?
22. What will happen if this bond program does not pass?
23. If one Bond proposition does not pass, can the funding be allocated to another priority, such as further drainage improvements in other areas?
24. You give away tax revenue in the form of abatements that could be used to pay for these projects.
25. Who does the City’s financial projections?
26. How are funds repaid that are received through the issuance of General Obligation Bonds?
27. What is Sugar Land’s current level of debt, and what revenue sources are used to make those debt payments?
28. Is now a good time economically for the City to issue bonds? Do the economic conditions within the U.S. impact the bonds the City would issue to fund these propositions?
29. How will these bonds affect interest rates?
30. What is the city’s bond rating, and how does it impact these bonds?
31. If the bond election fails, can we use any of the funding capacity for other projects?
32. What checks and balances are in place to make sure that bond money is only spent on the projects as authorized by the voters?
33. Will the bond funds be used for any other purpose?
34. If there is money left over after all the projects are built, can the city use the money for other CIP projects or other purposes?
35. How do bonds affect the Capital Improvement Plan?
36. What kinds of bond-financed projects has Sugar Land completed in the past?
37. How many outstanding bonds is the city including in the 2019 Bond election?
38. When was the last time there was a General Obligation Bond on the ballot?
39. How do the proposed drainage bond projects interact/coordinate with drainage projects that are ongoing within the City’s various LIDs and Fort Bend County?