Shreveport, Louisiana, voters approve $256 million in bonds

Shreveport, Louisiana, voters approved $256 million of general obligation bonds Saturday.

The voters approved $125 million for a streets and drainage bond, $82 million for a water and sewer bond, and $49 million for a police and fire infrastructure bond. The first two bonds passed with 80% in favor and 20% against. The last passed with 78% in favor and 22% against.

The city anticipates the bonds will have 20- to 30-year maturities. Moody’s Ratings rates the city’s GO bonds Baa1.

Shreveport, Louisiana, voters approved $256 million in bonds, which are expected to be split into three distinct sales.

Adobe Stock

City government anticipates the bonds to be sold as three tranches of bonds, each around $85 million, at three different times over the few years.

The bonds are to be financed through increased property tax rates. The government anticipates because of the bonds, the owner of a house valued at $100,000 will pay an additional $6.40 per month in 2027 and an additional $3.50 per month in 2028.

Shreveport City Council approved the bond election in February.
“The margin of victory of the passing of the three bond proposals shows a vote of confidence in administration and city council,” said one of the council members, Alan Jackson. “I am elated to see the citizens of Shreveport agree that is time to reinvest back into their city, the place that is home to us all.”

“What a great time for the City of Shreveport,” Mayor Tom Arceneaux said. “What this demonstrates to us is that when we choose to work together, we can move mountains. This was a team effort by people who realized that we had important things to do in the City of Shreveport and that we needed to do them together.”

“It has been 13 years since the city last issued a bond for streets and drainage, and there is a unanimous consensus that our most pressing infrastructure requirement lies in the enhancement of our streets,” city government says on its web site. “Additionally, there is a crucial need for funding to bolster water and sewer projects, aimed at enhancing the reliability of our water system and progressing towards compliance with the federal government’s sewer consent decree.”

Shreveport is in northwest Louisiana, near the border with Texas and Arkansas. It had a population of 180,000 in 2022.

The city and its voters approved a GO bond in 2021.