McDowell Creek Greenway / Jason Benavides photo

Oct. 28. By Dave Vieser. In November 2024, a $20 million parks and recreation bond was approved by 11,071 Cornelius voters — nearly a 60% majority. Now, almost a year later, residents are asking when they can expect to see action.

Based on the town’s financial projections, the first bond sale cannot be considered by the Town Board until Fiscal Year 2027, which begins July 1, 2026, with subsequent sales in Fiscal Years 2030 and 2033.

Town Manager Andrew Grant said the first bond sale is projected to be approximately $9 million, with subsequent sales projected at around $5.5 million each.

Grant

“There are additional steps before the bonds can be issued or sold, including approval by the Cornelius Town Board and the Local Government Commission,” Grant said. “The Local Government Commission is a unit of the state Department of Treasury that authorizes local governments to issue debt, including bonds. Conditions may also require the town to obtain a new bond rating by a rating agency prior to a bond sale.”

Another major factor as the bond sales occur is the town’s debt policy.

“We have a debt policy that is applied relative to the amount of debt the town can issue,” Grant said. “Under that policy, the town’s annual debt service cannot exceed 20% of General Fund annual expenditures.”

Grant said the town’s debt is estimated at 9.2% at the end of the current fiscal year and is projected to rise to 16% by 2031.

“We believe that utilizing a combination of pay-as-you-go and debt methods is appropriate, as long as the debt service ratio remains as low as possible while still allowing the town to fund capital projects,” he said.

In the meantime, the town board recently approved advancing money from the General Fund to pay for so-called “soft costs” like planning, design and permitting so the projects can hit the ground running as soon as the bonds are sold. Those advanced costs will be reimbursed from the sale of the bonds.

“The goal is to complete as much pre-construction work as possible for certain projects and to expedite construction or acquisition once the bonds are sold,” said Troy Fitzsimmons, the town’s parks director.

Fitzsimmons

Earlier this month the board approved the purchase of a tract of land on Bailey Road, and the bond money could be used toward that purchase if it is ultimately designated as parkland.

Fitzsimmons added that his department is working to prioritize potential bond projects based on feedback received last year following extensive input from residents.

“Currently, our town and park staff are assessing all potential projects based on their readiness, timely opportunities, partner investment, grant opportunities and overall demand,” Fitzsimmons said. “We’re already in discussions with various partners and grant organizations to help offset construction and land acquisition costs and stretch our park bond funds further.”

Details on potential bond projects and more information can be found here.