Questions Arise Regarding Lincoln City Bond Measure

Lincoln Cities $58 million bond measure may not lock the city into building a new City Hall and library at an alternate site, City Manager Daniel Hunter said, though the ballot’s explanatory statement currently refers to that.

Hunter said the City Council approved the bond amount without specifying which site or construction option it was considering. But city staff associated the $58 million figure with an off-site development, and that understanding was reflected in the explanatory statement prepared for voters.

The statement says the project would be at an alternate location. Hunter said that was what was expected to appear in the voters’ pamphlet. The city council was presented with three options, and approved asking for the $58 million, but did not specify that it would be for building the new building.

The idea was, if the bond was approved to be able to have enough to choose which option they would use the money for. This was not made clear when the information was presented to be put on the ballot however.

Hunter said the city’s legal counsel was reviewing possible next steps, including whether to ask the county elections office to correct the statement. If ballots have already been mailed, a correction might not appear on the ballot itself.

The council held an executive session on Tuesday and will hold a special meeting on Monday October 5th to further discuss next steps. The $58 million estimate for an alternate site includes a roadway from Highway 101, parking, and a City Hall and library building. Two other options involve the current site: extensively renovating the existing building or demolishing it and constructing a new facility there.

Those options could cost less. Hunter said the bond measure authorizes the city to issue bonds up to the approved amount—not that it must borrow the full $58 million. If the council selected an option costing $43 million, for example, the city would issue $43 million in bonds rather than the full amount. Hunter said the financing would be over 30 years.

During the last city council meeting local resident and business owner Bruce Polvi questioned Lincoln City’s proposed $58 million bond measure during public comment, raising concerns about the options presented to voters, the project’s long-term cost, and whether other funding sources could be considered.

Polvi told the City Council he was unsure whether the ballot measure offered voters only one option. He said information shared at a recent candidates’ forum led him to believe that possibility should be clarified for the public. He also said the option on the ballot appeared to be the least favored of three options discussed at town hall meetings.

Polvi urged the city to consider the history and future use of its existing facilities. He recalled that consolidation of government functions in the current building had previously been discussed as a way to reduce expenses, and suggested examining how the building’s space might be used before making decisions about its future. He also raised the possibility of an economic-impact study, saying some of the project spending could go to contractors outside the community.

Polvi questioned whether city-owned land or other funding sources might offer alternatives to borrowing. He said the city should provide voters with an inventory of its land holdings, including properties near the Villages and other parcels. He expressed concern that a bond he described as $58 million in principal could total about $128 million after interest.

He and others during public comment during council meetings have expressed concern over the cost this bond would add to residents and businesses, who are already struggling to make ends meet. Those on fixed incomes pointed out that their income is not going up while the city is asking for more and more. Renters could also see increases in rent with a bond passage, which would be hard on those already struggling to earn enough for the high rents in the city.

The city will be holding a special meeting on Monday at 5pm. At this meeting the council will consider approval of a resolution correcting the record on Measure 21-243 by striking “at an alternate site” from the Explanatory Statement.

The Explanatory Statement was submitted to the Lincoln County Elections Office to be placed on the ballot for the November 3, 2026 General Election. The Lincoln County Elections Office has published and mailed ballots to voters. The Explanatory Statement error was discovered after publishing and needs correction.