Biddeford voters, in rejecting all the bond issues presented Tuesday, are going to have pay up ”“ not in money, of course, but in other less tangible costs.

All three proposed bonds ”“ for street paving, sewer and sidewalk work, and facilities improvements ”“ were voted down by significant margins. Residents will be saving the roughly $10 million these improvements would have cost, but they’ll pay just the same ”“ with their car shocks and perhaps even their city pride.

While road paving is near and dear to the hearts of many drivers, it’s the City Hall clock tower’s fate that could be the most visible blow to the city’s image. Part of the facilities bond would have repaired the clock tower on the 1896 City Hall, which is rotting away before our very eyes. Voters rejected a $1.5 million bond to repair to it back in 2007, and though minor fixes were made to shore it up in recent years, the aging tower needs some significant work.

If voters continue to reject funds to repair it, it won’t be long before it’s removed for safety purposes and ends up sitting on the ground just like the Lincoln Mill clock tower. The city’s golden dome will shine no more and from there the tower might even just be parted out for the money.

Along with the tower, sewer repairs, new windows for city buildings, park improvements and safety measures like a sprinkler system at city hall are all going to be put on hold without these funds, among other projects.

It’s a sad situation, but voters’ decision is understandable given the economic times. Even those who are doing well are unsure of their employment stability, while others are struggling on government subsidies or working multiple jobs just to make ends meet.

The real failure here is with the city’s leadership. The city had planned to budget for seven miles of paving each year, to address road maintenance, but has continually failed to do so ”“ and instead of taking a black eye for a high budget, the council decided not to fund any paving in this year’s budget. So with voters’ rejection of this bond, there is no money set aside for any road repairs in the coming year. For a city of significant size, that’s just poor planning and is setting the city up for a huge expense when complaints start to pour in from streets in all areas ”“ or become impassable.

Part of the rejection of these bonds is no doubt linked to the tax increase residents took from the $32 million Biddeford High School renovation project. Instead of waiting for state school renovation funds, as most districts do, the city administration pushed for the school improvements, leaving local taxpayers with the entire bill ”“ and it’s been felt. It’s no wonder no one wants to spend more on fixing up city properties, streets and parks when their tax bill has eaten away at their ability to even improve their own properties.

The city leaders need to have a very serious discussion about putting together a capital improvement plan into the Biddeford budget process going forward ”“ one that will help residents avoid tax increase bubbles that come when infrastructure has reached a critical point.

In other voting, we’re glad to see the school budget finally pass in its fourth attempt, even if voters believe it’s too high, because the schools need a budget on which to operate for the rest of the year. Hopefully, residents will be more involved and informed during the school budget process next time around to have their voice heard early on, avoiding multiple rejections and the resulting uncertainty, such as happened this year.

Biddeford voters did make some other decisions on the charter changes that seemed to be largely uninformed, however. By refusing to remove the provision that the superintendent of schools must live in the city, they are forcing the new superintendent to take a hard look at whether or not he wants to uproot his family from Saco to Biddeford, or resign. Running a school system is a complicated endeavor, both politically and financially, and Biddeford should be seeking to get the best talent for the job, not the closest.

If a superintendent is basing his or her decisions entirely on how their tax rate will be affected, that’s not the person we want for the job anyway. Now that the vote is taken, however, we hope Ray will make the move and stay on with the Biddeford school district, as he was aware of the residency provision when hired.

We’d also like to applaud the voters for approving a charter rule that adds immediate family members of city and school department employees to the list of those who cannot have any direct or indirect financial interest in a city contract. This provision was needed to prevent conflicts of interest in the future.