Behind the Bonds: How Wake County and Raleigh would spend bonds totaling more than $1 billion

On Nov. 8, voters in Raleigh and Wake County will find three bond referendums on the ballot worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Wake county voters will vote on a bond for the Wake County Public School System for $530.7 million and the Wake Tech Workforce Forward Bond for $353.2 million.

Raleigh residents will also have a Parks Bond on the ballot for $275 million.

The Wake Public School Bond would include capital needs for 2024-25 and funding for five new schools including elementary schools in Apex, Fuquay-Varina, and Wendell, a middle school in Morrisville, and a high school serving west Cary and Morrisville.

The school bond would also provide funding for renovations to seven existing schools in the county.

The Wake Tech Workforce Forward bond would go toward Wake Tech Community College funding new buildings and repairs.

"What that means is being able to replace substandard buildings or buildings that we inherited actually years ago," said Dr. Scott Ralls, Wake Tech President.

The Wake Tech bond would also be used for an expansion of the Perry Health Sciences campus, a new cyber security science space on the RTP campus and money to purchase land in western Wake County for a new permanent building.

"One of our seven campuses is a smaller leased facility that struggles for accessibility, parking, particularly, and also does not have programs you need for a campus," Ralls said.

For Wake County taxpayers, each education bond would add a one-cent property tax rate increase or $10 for every $100,000 of assessed value.

So, each bond would cost a homeowner with a home valued at $337,000, about $34 more a year in county property taxes.

Taxpayers in Raleigh will also get to vote on a Parks Bond for $275 million that would fund 20 projects across the city.

"Our leaders really looked at this through the lens of equity and there are some great projects throughout the city. some of my favorite ones include community connectors," said Merritt Atkins, co-chair of the Raleigh Parks bond

"In addition to greenway connectors, the parks bond would also fund new facilities and renovations and construction of the new Devereux Meadow urban park north of downtown Raleigh.

The Parks bond would be a four-cent increase to Raleigh homeowners, meaning a median tax-valued home of about $256,000 would see about $103 added to their annual bill.

Click here for more information on Election day and to see a sample ballot.

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