The details
The $440 million road bond received approval at 55% of the vote during the November 2024 election.
Commissioners said the appeal would honor the majority decision of Hays County voters by following through with the road bond projects by using bond funds.
“This is more about upholding the voice of our citizens,” Commissioner Cohen said. “Clearly, they wanted these roads. I wanted these roads. We know how historically undervalued the eastside has been for many decades...This is beyond just a road bond being voided. This is about thousands of voters' voices being overturned.”
Cathy Ramsey, Hays resident and plaintiff in the road bond case, said during public comment that the court should move forward with the projects “without a lengthy appeals process" that would “waste taxpayer dollars.” She said the court should instead move forward with alternatives and include community voices.
The background
On June 23, a Travis County judge voided the bond election, ruling that Hays County failed to meet legal public notice requirements under the Texas Open Meetings Act, or TOMA.
The decision followed an October 2024 lawsuit filed by Hays County property owners who alleged the county did not properly disclose key details in the Aug. 13, 2024, meeting agenda—such as the bond’s purpose, amount, and proposed tax rate increase—as previously reported by Community Impact.
At the July 8 Hays County Commissioners Court meeting, Ramsey said the county did not provide enough transparent information about the road bond. She said previous agendas “lumped” the 31 road projects into a single item and allowed limited public comment time despite the scale of the proposal.
“This fight was led by Hays residents asking for help as a last resort because we were dissatisfied by how the process was carried out,” she said.
Ramsey said she would be supportive of a community task force to provide resident input on the road projects and to determine “which repairs are necessary."
What’s next
Hays County Commissioners said they will work through alternatives, such as debt financing, to “keep the ball rolling” on the road bond projects while they work on the appeals process.
