The Stafford County Board of Supervisors is asking residents to borrow up to $50 million for multiple road improvements.
- The cash would be used as matching funds to help unlock monies from state and federal sources, for up to $180 million in projects.
- The cash would only be borrowed if state or federal matching funds become available.
Why it matters: If approved, the county would go into debt in order to pay for the road projects, limiting its ability to borrow money for other local government needs.
- If the bond is approved by voters and the full $50 million borrowed, the average homeowner property tax bill will increase by about $75 in order to repay the bond, according to Commissioner of the Revenue Scott Mayausky.
The big projects include a $26 million plan to reconstruct two lanes of Mountain View Road, between Kellogg Mill and Choptank roads.
- A $30 million project to widen Garrisonville Road from four to six lanes between Eustace and Shelton Shop roads.
- A $ 16 million project to widen Onville Road at an entrance to Quantico Marine Corps Base from two to three lanes.
Developers should do more. That was the overwhelming call from residents who attended an information forum about the bond on October 24.
- Homebuilders should bear more of the cost for road improvements, they said.
- It’s also been a rocky landscape in recent years when it comes to the county’s ability to negotiate with developers.
- Changes by Richmond legislators to state proffer laws prohibit the county from pressuring developers for road improvements but were changed again this year, allowing for more negotiation that had been previously allowed under the old rules, Griffis-Widewater District Supervisor Jack Cavalier said.
The last time Stafford County voters approved was 2008.
- Money for forty-three lane miles of the 55 miles of the identified project was borrowed, and projects completed.
*This post has been updated to more accurately reflect the comments of Supervisor Jack Cavalier.
