Before a bond election the talk is generally about how much my taxes will go up.
That's a reasonable concern.
Let's make sure everyone knows that schools have 2 pockets.
The Bond election pocket is limited to bonded indebtedness and is generally earmarked for facilities. With voter approval, districts can issue bonds that will be repaid from future taxes over the life of the bond. Rules essentially limit these bonds to property that could be sold if required. Districts can't issue bonds to bring in winning football coaches (or teachers).
As I recall (this is going back 20 years and rules do change so please check the appropriate site for Texas) there is a limit to the rate for the combination of the Bond side and the Sustaining side. Let's say the limit for these two pockets is about one dollar and fifty cents per hundred dollars of property evaluation. This means that the bonded indebtedness cannot raise the total tax rate beyond $1.50/$100. Usually the Maintenance (or Sustaining) pocket is around $1/$100. So, the bond pocket is smaller than the Sustaining pocket.
We could say that the bond is temporary. It is. Texas law says the term for the bond cannot exceed 40 years. Truth is, the facilities built with a bond will wear out. By the time this bond has been paid off there will surely be other needs in the district and new bonds will be needed. It isn't likely that this expense will go away once the bond is over.
Every community has its share of grouches so there will always be some people who oppose whatever is proposed. Likewise, each community has some folks ready to vote "YES" for whatever comes along. A bond election allows the rest of us to weigh the proposal and cast our votes based on our best judgment. And after the votes are in, we'll all have to live with what the majority decides.
RSS Feed
