Voters in St Joseph will be asked Tuesday to authorize $190 million in bonds to complete the next phase of the city’s Long Term Control Plan to reduce sewer overflows into the Missouri River.

Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey expects voter turnout to be light.

“I think it is going to be very, very low,” Baack-Garvey said. “The one-issue ballots just don’t seem to bring out the turnout.”

“The weather, of course, isn’t cooperating with us again, unfortunately, but it is supposed to be warmer, so I’m hoping we can hit ten percent.”

If approved by voters, the City Council will be eligible to apply for bonds issued through the State Revolving Fund. The interest rate on such bonds is typically half of the normal rate, saving the city about $53 million over the life of the 20-year bonds.

St. Joseph is one of 770 cities in the country, and one of three in the state of Missouri (along with Kansas City and St. Louis), that have a combined sewer system that carries stormwater and wastewater in the same pipe. As a result, officials here are faced with federal and state mandates to reduce discharges of stormwater mixed with raw sewage that overflows into the Missouri River.