Fort Worth Independent School District’s $1.2 billion of bonds appeared to have passed by 42 votes.
If the $1.2 billion Proposition A holds on to its razor-majority out of more than 24,600 votes, it will be the only one of four on Fort Worth’s ISD ballot to win approval, according to preliminary results.
Results are preliminary, and absentee ballots postmarked by election day can be counted, according to the
Fort Worth voters rejected $98.3 million for district fine arts facilities, $105 million for sports facilities and a separate $76 million for athletics.
The combined $1.5 billion of FWISD proposals was the largest in the district’s history and was part of $10.8 billion of local ballot proposals across the state. The main $1.2 billion measure was the
In another close election, Temple ISD is considering a recount after unofficial results show voters rejected $178 million of bonds by three votes, according
Under Texas law, the campaign treasurer of a political committee opposing or favoring a bond proposal can seek a recount. Or 25 persons or more who were eligible to vote in the election can seek a recount. Recounts are automatic in a tie vote.
Also in Fort Worth and its booming suburbs, voters in Tarrant County approved $400 million of bonds to improve roads. The measure was winning by more than 65% as of Wednesday.
Several proposals were defeated, including a plan to incorporate The Woodlands, a Houston suburb that is largely controlled by a private developer, as a city.
In the Houston area, voters in Cleveland ISD rejected a $150 million bond proposal. The district is one of the fastest growing in the state.
“Although the November 2021 Bond proposal did not pass, the district will re-evaluate its options and continue to educate our students to the very best of our ability,” said Chris Trotter, superintendent of schools.
In another Houston suburban district, Tomball ISD, voters approved $466 million for buildings and $28 million for technology but rejected $73 million for athletic facilities.
In the West Texas city of Lubbock, voters rejected $175 million of bonds for street improvements.
Voters in the Canutillo ISD near El Paso defeated the district’s $187.5 million bond proposal for campus renovations and new construction.
In the booming Comal ISD near San Antonio, voters approved $472.2 million in projects to address growth but rejected about $62 million for athletic facilities.
In Central Texas, voters in the Waco ISD approved $355 million of bonds for new schools.
Voters in Austin strongly rejected Proposition A, a proposal to require minimum police coverage in the city, a measure that opponents called costly and unnecessary. The proposal was backed by a conservative fund-raising organization.
Austin voters strongly supported Proposition B, authorizing a land swap to allow a lease on nine acres of parkland, reportedly for an Oracle campus.
Statewide, voters approved eight constitutional amendments, including one that allows counties to issue bonds for development or redevelopment of transportation or infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas.
The proposal allows for repayment of bonds or notes with property tax revenues.
The closeness of the Fort Worth ISD is reminiscent of a $569 million bond proposal for the Midland ISD in 2019 whose results were reversed three times before a judge finally deemed the issue defeated by 26 votes on Jan. 24, 2020, nearly three months after the election.
In May, voters approved nearly $8.5 billion of bonds, including about $6.5 billion of school district bonds, $1.6 billion for cities, $319 million for counties and $139 million for community colleges.
Tuesday’s election decided $8.7 billion of school district bonds, about $821 million for cities, $798 million for counties and $552 million for municipal utility districts.
The record for bond proposals statewide came in November 2019 when Texas added $3 billion for the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas for a total of $16 billion on state and local ballots.
