Amount of bonds on May Texas ballots down from a supersized 2023
4 min readTexas voters will decide Saturday on 270 bond propositions totaling $17.4 billion, which marks a drop in debt requests compared to the last two years.
The proposed debt authorizations sought by schools, cities, and other issuers are down from the state’s biannual bond elections since November 2022 that all topped $20 billion, according to Texas Bond Review Board data. School districts account for $10.14 billion or 58% of the debt sought in the May 4 election.
Texas law restricts local bond elections to two dates per year, in May and November. Saturday’s slate is the smallest since November 2021, when an estimated
In the upcoming election, Dallas has the biggest bond ask on ballots at $1.25 billion. Mayor Eric Johnson pushed for the city’s first bond package since 2017 in his November state of the city address.
“This bond package should allow us to make critical investments in our city without raising your taxes,” he said, adding that streets and parks should get the biggest allocations of bond proceeds.
The
Housing was only allocated $26.4 million, which
Dallas has $2.16 billion of GO debt outstanding, according
With $777 million of bonds, Mansfield Independent School District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area,
Georgetown Independent School District north of Austin, which serves more than 13,200 students,
“Three of the district’s current elementary schools, two of the current middle schools and East View High School are all projected to be at or near capacity by the 2027-2028 school year,” the district said in a statement. “New facilities in the fastest growing areas of the district will help alleviate crowding at these campuses and provide engaging spaces for students to learn.”
Galena Park ISD, east of Houston,
Argyle ISD north of Fort Worth is seeking
Unlike during the bond elections a year ago, districts
Net capacity stood at $153.44 billion as of the end of March. In the first seven months of fiscal 2024, the guarantee has backed $8 billion of public school bonds.
Grayson County Junior College District, which had $16.6 million of GO bonds outstanding as of Aug. 31,
McKinney, a city north of Dallas, is
Attempts to restrict bond elections from twice a year to just November and require two-thirds voter approval
Financing for the renovation of Fort Worth’s convention center
Looking ahead to the fall round of Texas bond elections, Thomas said some school districts opted for the November 2023 ballot to avoid this year’s presidential election.
But Houston Independent School District is exploring a “long overdue” bond request this fall given its last trip to the ballot was in November 2012 when voters approved $1.89 billion of bonds to replace and repair 40 schools.
“The district has not yet determined the total amount for a potential bond package,” a statement from its administration said. “That will happen in the next several weeks with input from stakeholders across the community. However, the administration has made clear that any bond HISD proposes will not raise taxes.”
Texas’ largest public school district is run by a
Some Texas issuers are finding their previous bond propositions are not covering construction costs. A report released last week by Fort Bend ISD probed a $132.6 million shortfall in a $1.26 billion bond program approved by voters in May 2023.
“One of the main contributing factors was the prior administration’s conscious decision not to adjust certain project budgets for anticipated inflation following the delay of the proposed 2022 bond election to 2023,”