City voters could be asked to answer up to five questions about potential property-tax increases on Santa Fe's March 6, 2012, municipal election ballot, allowing them to pick and choose among various proposed ways of spending the money.

A general-obligation bond package costing up to $30 million that is making its way through the City Council review process is aimed at getting voter approval for capital improvements and facility upgrades.

Public hearings planned for Monday and at the end of the month represent a chance for elected officials to continue revising a list of projects for the so-called "Santa Fe Opportunity Bonds." But the city's professional bond counsel has recommended voters not be presented with an up-or-down choice on one lump-sum total.

Instead, explained Mayor David Coss, projects that would total about $27.8 million are being divided into groups according to general subject areas. The ballot could include questions on $5 million for public safety, $14 million for parks and trails, $3.8 million for sustainable environment projects such as renewable energy and watershed security, and $2 million for high-speed Internet in a couple of key locations around the city, such as the Railyard and St. Michael's Drive. An additional question would address a multimodal transportation hub and visitors center in the Railyard.

"I think five questions are maybe too many, but we will see what happens. It is a portfolio," Coss said, noting that amendments to the proposal could add more projects to the list between now and a final vote by city councilors about ballot language.

Although there are many variables to the final calculations on how such bond issues would affect individual property-tax bills, the city Finance Department calculated that if $30 million in bonds are issued, the annual taxes on a home with a full assessed value of $300,000 would increase by about $70.

Coss said the city is not planning to issue estimates about the incremental effect of each separate bond question.

This summer, the mayor also said the city was likely to conduct a public opinion poll about the bond. After more careful examination of the costs and benefits of that plan, he said in a recent interview, a determination was made that paying for polling isn't a good use of the city's resources right now.

Councilor Carmichael Dominguez, who chairs the city Public Works Committee, is the legislative sponsor of the bond proposals. Dominguez said he's been pleased so far with the community's interest in the idea.

"The public response has been pretty positive," he said. "I think this will get on the ballot and then we are going to have to work to educate people about why it's important. ... One of the reasons Santa Fe is as great as it is, is because we have made these investments in the past and we need to continue to make these investments."

The proposals will also address inequities in the community, he said, by bringing a large, developed park to the south side, which has fewer parks per resident than other parts of the city.

At the same time, officials are weighing the general-obligation bonds, and they are discussing a separate kind of bond issue that would use revenue from an existing gross-receipts tax levy. Repayment of this $20 million revenue-bond debt for capital infrastructure and maintenance purposes wouldn't require approval from voters.

An early draft of projects that could be funded with the general-obligation bonds called for housing down-payment assistance money. After a legal opinion questioned that approach, Coss said those projects are now proposed on a smaller scale in the capital improvement bond.

Not everyone in the community has a warm, fuzzy feeling about the bond proposals. A group called Santa Feans for Good Government, formed to oppose a property-tax hike to help pay for city operations that was discussed but dropped earlier this year, is targeting the current proposals.

Group member Cindy Katz issued a statement Wednesday that said the city's spending practices raise "a serious concern about whether the city's current fiscal policy is based upon sound management of taxpayer dollars."


IF YOU GO

What: Public hearing on general obligation and revenue bond proposals

When: 5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 14

Where: City Hall, 200 Lincoln Ave.



POSSIBLE PROJECTS

Among projects on a tentative list for funding through a voter-approved general obligation bond:

PUBLIC SAFETY

$3.5 million to build and equip a new fire station near the intersection of South Meadows Road and N.M. 599.

$1.5 million for renovations to the police department headquarters on the city's southwest side.

PARKS AND TRAILS

$6 million to renovate trails or plan and build new trail connections.

$5 million for a large park in the southwest sector in the Tierra Contenta development.

$3 million worth of park improvements not addressed in a 2008 park improvements bond.

SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT

$1.8 million for renewable-energy projects such as photovoltaic solar collectors.

$2 million for improvements to more than 50 substandard arroyo drainage features in the city.

HIGH-SPEED INTERNET

$2 million to install broadband Internet connections at strategic locations in the city.

TRANSIT HUB AND VISITORS CENTER

$5 million for a transportation hub at the Santa Fe Railyard and improvements to the bus station at the Santa Fe Place mall.


ON THE WEB

u To view a complete draft list and a proposed capital improvement bond budget, visit www.santafenm.gov and select "General Obligation and GRT Revenue Bonds" from the list at the left.