Council began the process of refining the $200 bond referendum that Richardson voters would see on their May 2026 ballot during its Oct. 6 work session.
What you need to know
Specific projects and proposition sizes were not yet discussed on Oct. 6, but City Manager Don Magner gave council an overview of potential proposition breakdowns as well as an overview of the city’s past bond programs.
Council discussed potential priorities, including a continuing focus on infrastructure.
“The most important thing to me is to continue building our infrastructure,” council member Curtis Dorian said. “It's something you don't see, so it's not instant gratification, but it's super important for the growth of our city.”
Magner said that funding the same number of road projects as the 2021 bond with some additional costs for mobility projects would cost around $130 million.
Council members also supported a larger proposition dedicated to drainage projects than the $8 million that was allocated in the 2021 bond.
“If we're going to be able to accomplish any of our significant drainage projects, we have to at least double the drainage proposition,” Magner said.
What they’re saying
Council member Ken Hutchenrider said that an additional priority should be funding for a new fire station.
“I do think we need to have fire station seven in here,” he said. “I look at all the growth that we’ve had ... I think we have got to continue to push that, and I think it has to be in this bond program.”
Council member Jennifer Justice added that she would like to see additional opportunities for public input on the parks and facilities propositions.
“For me, just me, I’m going to say we have to have a splash pad at Breckinridge, but others may think something else is important,” she said. “I'm not suggesting that we go to the public and say, ‘which streets do we fix?’ We have the studies on that, but I think at some point we need to go to the public ... so that we can refine based on public feedback.”
The background
The $200 million bond referendum is $10,000 larger than the $190 million bond that was approved by voters in 2021. The 2015, 2010 and 2006 bond programs totaled $115 million, $66 million and $55 million, respectively, according to Magner’s presentation.
Richardson also called a $46 million bond referendum in 2023 to fund the construction of a new City Hall after an Aug. 2022 fire damaged the old City Hall.
Magner added that the city has completed a lot of planning work ahead of this bond cycle, including its Active Transportation Plan, Parks Master Plan, Aquatics Master Plan and Fire Master Plan, with additional studies being finalized.
“If this bond program development process feels just a little bit different than prior, that's a good thing,” Magner said. “Never in the immediate years leading up to a bond program, has a council done so much planning work.”
What’s next
Council is set to have discussions on specific propositions through the end of the year, with the final proposition discussion planned for January, according to Magner’s presentation.
The last day to call a bond for the May 2, 2026 election is Feb. 9.
