Austin ISD can begin spending $489.7 million in voter-approved bond money after members of a taxpayer group dropped legal action against the district in early January.

Background

In May 2013, AISD held a bond election and asked voters to consider $892 million in district improvements. Voters approved two of the four propositions on the ballot.

The Travis County Taxpayers Union filed a lawsuit against the district claiming that the May 2013 ballot language excluded two pieces of information required by state law: the maximum property tax rate and whether the tax rate has an "upper limit." The district could not use the bond money while the lawsuit was pending.

TCTU

In a Jan. 22 statement, TCTU treasurer Don Zimmerman wrote that the suit's plaintiffs "were confronted with the possibility of personal losses of $50,000 due to a legal tactic from Austin ISD.

"Because TCTU plaintiffs were unable to shoulder the financial risk, they elected to drop the suit," he wrote.

Zimmerman told Community Impact Newspaper that the group was very disappointed.

In the same statement, TCTU attorney Stephen Casey wrote that "The District's ploy of asking the court of appeals to affirm the lower court judgment, leveraged against our client's finances, was not accepted—the court dismissed the appeal rather than affirm the trial court."

AISD

Paul Turner, AISD executive director of facilities, said the district learned that TCTU had dropped legal action in early January.

"The staff is excited to be able to begin the implementation of the program," he said. "We think the voters spoke clearly in their belief in parts of the bond planning. Now that we have received the signed order of dismissal, the district is free to move forward."

Critical needs will be the district's first priority, according to a district statement.

Since the election, the district has tried to work on parts of the bond package that do not cost any money, Turner said. AISD has worked with project managers and construction teams to verify the scope of work.

At its Jan. 27 meeting, the AISD board of trustees may take action related to construction contracts for the first phase, Turner said.

Turner said it is hard to gauge if there were any project consequences from the lawsuit. He said there was the opportunity cost of not starting earlier and the possibility that AISD may have to compete for labor when The University of Texas is building its new Dell Medical School and Seton Healthcare is building its new teaching hospital.

Some of the summer projects will need to be postponed until summer 2015 because the district will be unable to order and receive the equipment in time to work on it this summer, Turner said.

For more information, visit www.austinisd.org/bond/bond-program/by-school.