Springs voters may decide on $65M bond

Coral Springs voters will be asked if they want to tax themselves to pay for $65 million in citywide improvements.

The cost would translate to a 46 cent tax for every $1,000 of assessed property. If approved, it will go before voters on the ballot March 13. Among the proposed projects: Fire station reconstruction. License plate readers to monitor cars coming and going in the city. Drainage in the city’s Corporate Park area. Artificial turf in eight sports fields. A new pool at the aquatic center. A new 10,000-square-foot senior center. Road resurfacing. The highest-priced item: $18.5 million for the Westside Municipal Complex on North- west 121st Avenue. The site is used as the city’s garage and storage for items such as batteries and sand for road repair. The plan is to turn the steel “shed” into a 50,000-square-foot building.

Not everybody is on board. Commissioner Larry Vignola said the move to ask voters to pay more comes on the heels of a property-tax increase that some residents might already find burdensome.

That increase is expected to net the city an additional $9.9 million. He said many of these citywide projects on the bond list should have been the focus of the tax increase in the first place.

“All of a sudden we’re saying we need more,” Vignola said. “That’s very concerning to me.”

Vice Mayor Dan Daley said he wants to give voters the chance to decide for themselves.