DES MOINES, Iowa — Polk County voters on Tuesday passed a measure to issue $65 million in bonds for things like water trails, hiking, fishing and flood prevention projects.
The bond would cost taxpayers around $11 extra in property taxes each year. That money would not be used for salaries, just parks, trails and other recreational projects.
The measure required 60% to pass, and received 81.3%.
Conservationists say they will be playing catch-up if the issues are not tackled soon.
"Anybody that's been around the Des Moines area knows that we are growing so fast that if you don't do it now, it doesn't get done," said Polk County Conservation Director Rich Leopold. "We have had a lot of success working with the business community and the public health community on what our needs are for recruitment and retention of a positive workforce here in central Iowa, so a lot of these amenities are sought after by people wanting to live here."
So, what happens now?
Rich Leopold, director of Polk County Conservation, told Local 5 on Wednesday that the changes won't happen overnight. One of the biggest focuses will be water quality.
"It's broken down into a number of different categories, pieces of the pie, if you will, water quality is by far number one," Leopold said. "We have other pieces of the pie that speak to land preservation, parks, development, trails, development, those types of things, but the majority is going to be going toward water quality concerns."
In total, $25 million will go towards water quality issues, according to Leopold.
Find full election results at weareiowa.com/elections.
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