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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- This week the Ottumwa City Council began the process of acquiring the funding for the biannual Capital Improvements Program.

These programs are set up every two years by the council.

It is a slate of fairly large projects, with street projects making up the majority.

The city bonds for these funds on a two year basis and the two years it takes to complete the process, the bonds are paid off.

Bonds work for a community much like home improvement loans work for homeowners.  It’s a way that cities or counties can borrow money with anticipated revenue coming in to pay off the bond.

“Well this round of capital improvement funding will require about five and a half million dollars in bonding and again like with most forms of financing, there's a lot of steps and other processes that go into it. So the council will have to take repeated actions throughout the process to complete this bond sale,” said Tom Rodgers, Ottumwa Public Information Officer.

Rodgers added that there are a lot of matching dollars going into the program as well.