Wright City, MO, officials will ask voters to approve a no-tax increase bond to improve roads in the city, starting with Roelker Road.
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Wright City aldermen are preparing to ask voters to pass a no-tax increase bond in the April 2024 election that would allow the city to take out general obligation bonds to improve city roads.
Mayor Michelle Heiliger said the city has met with a financing firm that is helping the city through the process.
The first Wright City road to be addressed would be Roelker Road, Heiliger said.
“Roelker Road has got to be done before the new school opens,” she said. “And the reality of life is we don’t have money to pay for it.”
Heiliger said if voters approve the no-tax increase bond, the city would be able to borrow the money at lower interest rates.
If voters do not approve the bond, the city still intends to move forward with borrowing money, but would have to do so at a much higher interest rate.
“We are going to have to borrow this money one way or another,” Heiliger said. “If the voters say no, we’re still going to have to borrow the money. It’s going to cost more money and it will take us longer to pay it back. That’s how it works.”
She said the most the city can borrow at this point is $9.1 million.
“So we’ll borrow for Roelker Road, for example. We get Roelker Road done, we start to pay it back, then we can go borrow out to do the next road.”
Alderman Ramiz Hakim said the city is able to take this approach because of the 1 percent sales tax increase voters approved in April 2023.
“We’re not going to be raising taxes, but we do want to save the city money, and by doing so it has to be approved by the public,” he said.
Language for the bond is currently being worked on. Aldermen will consider the language at the Jan. 11 meeting.
