The gist
City staff presented an update to City Council members on the city’s bond funding and the potential for a bond election during the May 2024 election at the meeting.
The bond could include a number of municipal and infrastructure projects, including renovations to existing facilities, construction of new facilities and major road projects, according to the presentation.
The setup
The voter-approved 2019 bond allotted $350 million to city projects including public safety, municipal facilities, parks, public works and streets.
City officials have since issued over $200 million of the approved bond funds, and just over $140 million remains. However, city officials expect that amount to be significantly lower at the end of fiscal year 2023-24, according to a presentation at the meeting.
“Roughly 25% to 30% [of the balance] will be remaining at the end of the year, and we don’t want to get too lean with that number, especially as it relates to streets and transportation and infrastructure,” Director of Strategic Services Trevor Minyard said at the meeting.
The details
City staff has identified a number of unfunded projects and estimates of the associated costs that could be considered for funding if City Council members choose to call a bond election.
Some unfunded projects being considered include:
- $5 million in renovations to the McKinney Performing Arts Center,
- $10 million in renovations to the Roy & Helen Hall Memorial Library,
- $30 million in renovations to the McKinney Public Works South campus,
- construction of a new municipal court facility, estimated to cost $36 million,
- $95 million in parks and recreation projects, including park renovations and new facilities,
- $68 million in public safety projects, including two new fire stations,
- and $190 million in major street projects and street reconstruction.
Quote of note
“I believe we should be moving forward next year. We will ... have depleted much of our current bond authorized debt, we will have issued it [and] have those projects underway,” McKinney Mayor George Fuller said. “I think it’s been identified that if we wait until [2025], we could do it but we will certainly have a number of different projects that we would have likely wanted to have started a year earlier that we will have waited on.”
What’s next?
McKinney City Council members will nominate candidates for a bond committee to consider the potential bond election at its Sept. 19 meeting.
The bond committee will work with city staff to consider unfunded projects to include in the potential bond election throughout the fall, according to a process timeline presented at the meeting. The bond committee is expected to present a recommendation to City Council members in late 2023 or early 2024.
City Council will ultimately determine if the bond election is called, as well as the amount and projects included, according to the presentation. If they choose to do so, City Council members would be required to call a bond election by Feb. 17, according to the Texas Secretary of State website.
For more information on bond elections in McKinney, visit www.mckinneytexas.org/1481/bond-updates.
