Texas ballots are bursting with the most bonds among Southwest states in Tuesday's election, topped by a two-part, $4.4 billion Houston Independent School District proposal that faces bipartisan opposition.
The
Proposition A asks for $3.96 billion of bonds to rebuild, renovate, or expand schools, while Proposition B seeks $440 million of bonds for technology equipment and systems. If approved by voters, the
The Harris County Democratic and Republican parties are urging "no" votes on the bonds albeit for different reasons.
A resolution
The Texas Education Agency appointed Miles and a board of managers when it
The county's Republican party
A
In a local TV interview last week, Miles said the bond proceeds
The nearly $37.6 billion of bonds on Texas ballots include big debt proposals from other school systems, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Frisco ISD
A barrage of school bond sales last year helped make
Districts that finance water projects and other infrastructure in the Lone Star State proposed big-ticket bond issues, including a two-part $2.15 billion proposal from Waller County Municipal Utility District No. 55B and a two-part $1.42 billion proposal from Rolling V Ranch Water Control and Improvement District No. 4 in Wise County.
Colorado issuers are seeking billions of dollars in bonds with school districts accounting for the biggest proposals.
Aurora Public Schools tops the list requesting $1 billion of bonds for school construction, expansion, and safety and other improvements. Cherry Creek Schools has a $950 million bond measure for construction, renovation, and safety projects.
Denver Public Schools' record $975 million bond request would address some of the district's more than $2.2 billion in capital infrastructure needs — including air conditioning — without increasing property tax rates. In September, its GO rating was
The Denver Downtown Development Authority has a $570 million
An
In Arizona, Tempe
New Mexico has four bond questions totaling $290.6 million on the statewide ballot with the largest asking for $230 million to fund capital projects for certain public and tribal schools, as well as for higher education.
In addition to bonds, some Southwest ballots include proposed tax hikes and measures that could impact budgets or lead to debt issuance.
Dallas voters will weigh a slew of city charter amendments, including two placed on the ballot through a signature campaign that could have financial consequences.
Proposition U would require the city to appropriate at least 50% of annual revenue increases over the previous year to fund public safety pensions, boost police starting pay, and maintain a police force of at least 4,000 full-time sworn police officers compared to about 3,100 currently.
"Budgeting for this level of hiring would not make the city safer and it would spell doomsday for the city budget," Dallas Police Association President Jaime Castro said at a press conference last month. "Parks, streets, libraries and other city services improve our quality of life and contribute to a safer city."
The Dallas budget is already facing strain after the city council
Kroll Bond Rating Agency last week revised the outlook on Dallas' AA-plus rating to stable from positive, citing "the limited improvement in the city's pension funding metrics to date which may limit future financial flexibility."
Proposition S would allow any Dallas resident to sue the city to force it to comply with the local charter and ordinances, as well as state law and recover litigation costs if injunctive or declaratory relief is granted.
The Harris County Flood Control District in Texas is seeking a property tax hike that would boost its maintenance budget by $100 million to $241 million.
Amid stagnant state funding and rising costs, some Texas school districts put maintenance and operations property tax increase requests on ballots, including Austin Independent School District, which is
Denver voters will decide two
The city's 8.81% total sales tax rate, which includes Colorado's 2.9% portion, would rise to 9.65% if voters approve both the housing and health care tax increases.
State question 833 in Oklahoma would allow property owners to petition their municipality to
In Utah, Amendment B would boost annual land trust distributions public schools receive from Utah's $3.3 billion Permanent State School Fund to 5% from 4%, which amounted to $106 million for the 2024-25 school year, according