City improvements, property tax system changes hinge on Tuesday vote

Voters will have their last chance Tuesday to decide whether to spend millions of dollars for city improvements and to change how the state calculates the taxes they pay.

City residents could choose to spend up to $61 million - $49.57 on an average residential tax bill - to purchase street upgrades, park improvements and three new South Lubbock fire stations.

More than 12,500 voters cast ballots on a series of state constitutional amendments and a city bond proposal over the last two weeks, about double the turnout of the last constitutional election but less than a third of the number who voted on whether to sell alcohol within city limits.

Kevin Watson, president of the 34th Street Association that is pushing passage of road improvements, considered it a good turnout so far.

"By no means are we discouraged," Watson said. "We'd love to get 20,000 votes."

The measures could mark the first time in years Lubbock voters approved an increase in the portion of the tax rate committed to debt. Past bond elections have replaced, but not increased, the tax rate.

Lubbock pays down the voted obligations every year, city Chief Financial Officer Andy Burcham said. The city could have lower payments tied to the voter-approved debt in two years, though it has changed the way it structures its debt, making a direct comparison difficult, he said.

"We will always have old debt rolling off," Burcham said.

Street projects make up the biggest portion of the request, at more than $43 million. More than $20 million would reconstruct almost two miles of 34th Street between Indiana Avenue and Avenue Q.

An expanded youth sports complex makes up the second-largest single item

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