Voters across the U.S. are slated to approve at least $12.6 billion of local-government debt sales on ballots this election, according to preliminary results after Tuesday’s polling, Bloomberg News reported. All in all, voters were asked to decide on about $27 billion of municipal bonds, the lowest tally since 2017, according to data compiled by IHS Markit. The largest measures up for vote were set to fund work ranging from school construction to flood-prevention measures in Virginia Beach. Early results showed more bond proposals passing than failing, but many of the races were tight, with some decided by just a handful of votes. At least $5.1 billion of bonds failed or were failing, according to Bloomberg calculations. “Voters in the races this year seem to want government to move more slowly with projects,” said Dan Solender, head of municipals at Lord Abbett & Co. “There has also been a lot of talk about raising taxes too, so maybe some voters are concerned that if they approve these bond issues, it might lead to more taxes.” Fort Worth, Texas, voters were torn over a $1.2 billion bond to fund construction and renovation of schools in Fort Worth Independent School District. It’s the biggest measure up for consideration this year and part of a nearly $1.5 billion package of debt. The measure was ahead by about 40 votes, according to unofficial results updated Wednesday after midnight, with around 25,000 ballots cast for the proposition altogether.
