Orem voters approve road bond

OREM — Nearly two-thirds of Orem voters decided Tuesday that better city roads are worth higher taxes. The $14.5 million received from the approved road bond will go toward reconstructing failing city roads, maintaining roads in need of repair and constructing new sidewalks.

Over the past few months, Orem officials worked to inform residents about road and sidewalk issues — and it seems to have paid off.

"What we really did was an educational process," said Orem City Manager Jim Reams. "Through our Neighborhoods in Action program, we had about eight community meetings where we explained what the bond proposal was, what road projects would be accomplished, how much it would cost each resident, and just provided information and asked questions."

Going into the election, Orem leaders weren't sure what to expect.

"With the presidential election there was heavy turnout, and the question was, 'Did everyone have an opportunity to know what the issue was and to make an informed choice?' " Reams said. "We had no idea whether it would pass or fail. We didn't have any surveys, no polling, and so we were very pleased with the outcome."

Some Orem voters may not have been fully versed about the bond's pros and cons. Some 6,024 of 31,526 Orem voters didn't cast a vote on the issue.

Homeowners' property taxes will increase approximately $24 a year for each $100,000 of assessed value, or an overall increase of 3.75 percent.

It's anticipated that the bond will be paid off in 17 to 20 years.

The projects will be completed in two phases over the next two to three years.

The first phase will include repairs to more traveled roads, including Sandhill Road from University Parkway to 2000 South. About $3 million of the proposed bond money will go toward reconstructing and widening the road, with an additional $2 million federal matching grant targeted to fund the project.

The second phase will include maintenance and reconstruction of sidewalks and other roads. Without the bond money, those improve- ments would have been completed only as funds became available.

Reams said city officials pushed for the bond because they believe the road and sidewalk repairs cannot wait.

"We really believe that we need these funds to fix the roads now, that if we don't fix the roads now, they will continue to deteriorate, and it will cost us millions and millions of dollars," he said.

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E-mail: mdecker@desnews.com