Canton Revenue Bond Info For April 7th Vote
At our last Board of Aldermen meeting, the Canton R-V School District Superintendent, Jesse Uhlmeyer, suggested that our City should help voters better understand what they’re being asked to vote on this in April. We hope this information is helpful to you.
On April 7, 2026 City of Canton voters will be asked to vote on a combined waterworks and sewerage system REVENUE BOND.
1. What is a revenue bond?
In the state of Missouri, revenue bonds are paid off by the revenues of the particular system. In this case, it would be from the monthly utility bill of either the water system and/or the sewer system.
2. Can a revenue bond raise my taxes?
NO. In Missouri, it is ILLEGAL to raise your property taxes for a bond without a vote. Debt secured by a property tax in Missouri is called a “General Obligation Bond” or “G.Os”. School District normally use G.O. bonds because they have no source of revenue for new construction projects.
This spring we will be asking you to vote on a $30,000,000 REVENUE BOND. This type of bond CAN NOT RAISE YOUR PROPERTY TAXES, EVER. It’s the law.
3. Does all borrowing by a City require a vote of the people?
NO. Cities in Missouri can borrow without a vote by using leases. Leases CAN NOT raise your property taxes, but they can raise your utility rates.
4. If the City can borrow without a vote, why not just borrow what you need? The short answer is “FREE MONEY”. With voted revenue bonds, we have a chance at securing government grants that never have to be repaid. Right now, we’re hoping to secure $15,000,000 in grants. We are also hoping for a 20-year government subsidized interest rate fixed at 2%. That’s less than half the interest rate we’d expect if we used non-voted leases.
If the Revenue Bond doesn’t pass, we have little chance at being awarded grants that will NOT need to be repaid, no chance at low-interest rate loans and we’ll still be required by the state to fix our system.
5. Why so much?
We recognize $30,000,000 is a huge number for what is essentially a total line of credit. Canton is anticipating borrowing only a fraction of this for our water project. The final cost of the project will depend on actual supply and labor costs at the time of construction, etc.
The $30,000,000 is anticipated to be used over 30-years. It may ONLY be used for water and sewer projects as needed. Our City is only required to pay back exactly what is borrowed. It’s very likely we will never use all of our bond authority.
HAVE A BOND QUESTIONS?
Please let us know.
* Let The City of Canton Know if you have a Bond Question.
