Here they come again.
On Election Day, more than 150 local governmental entities will ask Texas voters for permission to go $21 billion deeper into debt. The borrowing binge comes just as voters approved $24 billion at the ballot box in May.
Using the Texas Bond Review Board’s Bond Elections Database, one thing about all the debt proposed this election cycle is immediately recognizable: a relative few are asking for the bulk of it.
For instance, the 10 largest bond packages combined will cost taxpayers $9.6 billion, which represents almost half of the total amount sought this November ($21.1 billion). The largest bond package ($2.3 billion) belongs to Austin ISD which, curiously enough, has experienced: “a 10,000-student drop in AISD enrollment since the 2017-18 school year.”
Austin ISD’s gigantic ask is followed by Lamar CISD ($1.3 billion), Plano ISD ($1.2 billion), and Harris County ($900 million). With one exception, all of the bond packages on the top 10 list would cost taxpayers more than $500 million (principal only).
A complete list can be found below.
