“I don't know of any community that we don't have that is on fire, so to speak, in relation to growth and expansion,” County Judge Bill Gravell said.
The background
Commissioners Court formed the bond committee March 28 to assess the county’s needs for roads and parks and determine if a 2023 bond election should be called.
Committee Chair David Hays said the committee received project requests from 16 cities and municipal utility districts after holding six public meetings across the county, soliciting input from municipal utility districts and receiving comments from citizens.
“I think everybody recognizes the need,” Hays said. “Everybody's stuck in traffic. Everyone sees the growth.”
The update
The committee recommended a $1.68 billion county transportation bond for 59 projects along with a separate $78.96 million parks bond for 35 projects.
Of the larger $1.68 billion bond, 22 of the projects would include an additional $500 million in funding from cities and other entities totaling $2.2 billion. Almost 100 transportation projects were submitted to the committee totaling $6 billion, Hays said.
Hays said larger cities with sophisticated transportation plans like Round Rock, Georgetown and Cedar Park were able to match county funding close to 50%, while smaller cities Jarrell and Liberty Hill have struggled to fund their transportation projects.
“Given the strong response, the Citizens Bond Committee voted unanimously that there's sufficient need for a parks bond election to be called,” Hays said.
Meeting highlights
The commissioners agreed that a 2023 bond election could be necessary to address the county’s growth but that it would likely approve a figure far below the recommended $1.8 billion. Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles was not in attendance.
“I don't think anybody argues the need,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said. “The hard part is prioritizing what we need to do because we don't have an infinite amount of money at any one time and the costs have gone up so much."
In March, the court issued $150 million in short-term debt to finish road projects approved by voters in 2019 through a $412 million road bond.
While the court has historically issued bond elections every six years, County Judge Bill Gravell expressed support for issuing a bond election four years after the 2019 election.
“I believe that we're behind,” Gravell said. “I believe two things that have occurred; the cost of construction has escalated, but the needs have escalated exponentially as well.”
Covey said the court should be careful to only present voters with a bond election that would pass to keep the county on track with its long-range transportation plan.
Local governments cannot issue long-term debt, known as certificates of obligation, to pay for projects within three years of when they were presented to voters through a bond election, according to state law.
“We don't want to put anything before the voters that fails,” Covey said. “We have to continue to implement this plan or we get behind.”
The commissioners agreed to make a final decision on whether to call the bond election in late July before the August deadline. If approved, the bond election would take place in November.
