Fuquay-Varina voters reject $60 million parks bond
It is rare for voters in North Carolina to reject a bond referendum even when it means raising taxes to pay for new projects.
However, that's exactly what voters in Fuquay-Varina did on Election Day. Some 59% of voters in the town said "no" to a $60 million parks bond.
The proposal would have paid to build ball fields, pickleball courts and parking at Hilltop-Needmore Park and Preserve. Upgrades to the community center and a new park, indoor sports complex and Greenway were also part of the bond.
Elizabeth Strycker is a member of the Hilltop-Needmore Park and Preserve advocacy group, which is working to protect green space at the site.
"When we formed this little grassroots operation, none of us thought we were going to win," Strycker said.
The group rallied voters to vote "no" to a bond referendum that they say would have cost the preserve its peace.
"Once the baseball fields and parking lots started coming up, and it wasn’t one or two parking lots, it was multiple parking lots, I think everybody started to worry," Strycker said.
The bond would have cost $224 more per year for the typical homeowner.
"When you start adding it up, this is a lot of money," Strycker said. "This is a tough economy. Housing affordability is an issue. We have this in our own family. It doesn’t seem pragmatic."
Tuesday's vote is not the typical response to a referendum on the ballot.
"It’s rare for a bond referendum not to succeed," said Connor Crews, a former faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Government.
Crews analyzed the success rate of bond referendums during his time on the faculty at UNC School of Government. He found over a decade of elections across the state:
- Voters approved 202 of 213 bond referendums, or 95% of such proposals
- They rejected six of 43 parks bonds during that same time period.
"It might be common sense for a voter to think about a potential increase in their property taxes that would go to pay debt service on the bonds or just opposition to the project," Crews said.
Leslie Ahrens brings her granddaughter to the park, which is near her preschool.
"I’m not happy about it," Ahrens said of Tuesday's result. "We enjoy a lot of the parks in Fuquay area."
Ahrens lives outside town limits, but hopes Fuquay-Varina leaders can find a way to add to the town's parks despite the defeat at the polls.
"Why would you vote down an educational, exercise, healthy situation?" Ahrens said.
The town says it will work over the coming months to figure out what's next for the parks projects.
On Wednesday, the town issued a statement, saying, "We understand that there is a strong desire for these projects in our community, and we are committed to finding a way to advance while minimizing the impact on our citizens' wallets.”
