A general obligation (GO) bond is a long-term borrowing tool in which a city pledges its taxing power to repay the debt over a specified term. General obligation (GO) bonds are considered one of the safest municipal funding tools available because they come with the lowest interest rates.

The purpose of a bond issue is to borrow money to finance major capital projects. A capital project is generally defined as a project expected to have a useful life of 10 or more years.

General obligation (GO) bonds are considered one of the safest municipal funding tools available. The City’s strong financial management has allowed it to achieve a Standard & Poor’s AAA and Moody’s AAA bond rating and these ratings put the City in a position to obtain some of the lowest rates on GO bonds. 

The proposed bond program will provide the City more options to invest in infrastructure to meet the needs of Asheville’s rapidly growing population.

Infrastructure projects are typically funded through the City’s capital improvement program, also known as the CIP. The City’s current CIP is at capacity meaning no additional projects can be added under the current model until 2029 or later without removing projects currently in the program.

A bond referendum is a vote by the electorate to authorize the City to issue bonds to generate revenue for specific projects. There will be four bond referendums on the Nov. 5 ballot. The bond categories are Housing Affordability, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety Facilities and Transportation. In issuing general obligation bonds, a city pledges its “full faith and credit” to repay the bonds. To assure that it will meet that commitment, the bond questions on the ballot are required to ask voters to authorize a tax levy to repay the bonds if needed.

You must vote on each question separately.