Though the plan is in limbo, Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux’s administration this week put forward its outline for spending the first $88 million to be raised by the general obligation bonds voters earlier this year authorized the city to sell.
Shreveport’s 2024 bond issue election was the most successful of such efforts in a decade, and voters agreed the city should incur $256 million in debt to fix infrastructure around town. Arceneaux’s administration next month plans to start selling the bonds, hoping to get some shovel-ready projects underway quickly while paying for the design process of others, such as various roadway reconstructions. On Tuesday, the administration presented a list of projects the first tranche of bonds would fund to city council members.
The council did not take up the resolution outlining the first projects, legally nonessential but with the purpose of “establishing the intent of the city council.” Due to a disagreement over conditions at the police headquarters buildings, the council on Tuesday declined to take up any bond issue legislation. Along with the list of projects for the first $88 million in bond sales, the council delayed for two weeks the final passage of an ordinance which is required to authorize their sale. It is not yet clear how long the standoff will last…