Bond issue passes by narrow margin


Rio Rancho voters narrowly passed a $25 million general obligation bond issue Tuesday.

With all 10 of the precincts reporting, 1,106 voters (54.4 precent) were in favor of the bond issue compared to 844 (45.6 percent) against.

Early voters favored the bond 308-283. Those who cast their votes in person were more decisive, favoring the bonds 698-561.

It was not immediately clear how many early votes were cast before Friday's announcement that the federal government will give Rio Rancho $14 million to complete Paseo del Volcan.

As initially constructed, $10 million of the bond money had been slated toward PDV. That money will now go toward other road projects once a city-wide evaluation of all roads is completed by the public works department, most likely in August.

Mayor Tom Swisstack, who built is election campaign around improving public infrastructure last year, was happy with the result.

"We now can start our infrastructure program that we have talked about," he said. "The city is moving in an aggressive fashion to address road issues on a continous basis. The public saw this as a viable option and the city’s future."