November 07, 2016
Philadelphia voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question on Tuesday to decide whether the city should borrow money for a major investment in infrastructure projects.
By a margin of 66.64 percent to 33.36 percent, residents said yes the city's lone ballot question, which appeared as follows:
Should the City of Philadelphia borrow ONE HUNDRED EIGHT-FOUR MILLION THREE HUNDRED THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($184,303,000.00) to be spent for and toward capital purposes as follows: Transit; Streets and Sanitation; Municipal Buildings; Parks, Recreation and Museums; and Economic and Community Development?
As the Committee of Seventy explained, the ballot question determined whether Philadelphia would increase its indebtedness by $184,303,000 in order to fund muncipal initiatives.
"Capital purposes means, generally, to make expenditures that will result in something of value with a useful life to the City of more than five years, for example, acquisitions of real estate, or construction of or improvements to buildings, property or streets," the Committee said in a statement.
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Money borrowed through the bond issue will be spent by the city for five purposes identified in a CIty Council bill that passed in September.
• Transit: $4,683,131
• Streets and Sanitation: $33,436,080
• Municipal Buildings: $100,943,681
• Parks, Recreation and Museums: $25,740,061
• Economic and Community Development: $19,500,047
By ordinance, Phialdelphia City Council retains the authority to change the intended allocation of these proceeds.
