Collin County residents will vote on a $817.5 million bond when they head to the polls Nov. 3.
Collin County commissioners approved the placement of four bond propositions on the November ballot during an Aug. 10 meeting. The propositions look to improve the county’s jail and courthouse, roads, parks and construct a new elections facility to maintain needs of the county’s growing population.
“All of these are taxpayer approved, so we put them forward to the taxpayer and if they want to approve it, we’ll move forward. If they don’t, we won’t and I’m perfectly content with that,” County Judge Chris Hill said. “They’re going to have to pay the bill, so we want their voice on this decision.”
The details
The propositions include:
- Proposition A: $296.5 million for court and detention facility projects
- Proposition B: $475 million for road improvement projects
- Proposition C: $6 million for parks and open space projects
- Proposition D: $40 million for elections and records storage facility
The bond does not show an explicit tax increase, if approved. Instead, residents could see a potential maximum debt service tax rate of 4.95 cents in 2031 that is flexible, dependent on population growth, officials said.
“We want our taxpayers to see steady finances from the county and steady tax rates from the county, but I recognize that all these projects are really important," Hill said. "As we put them off we defer them for the future.”
Zooming in
Proposition A would go toward finishing out shell spaces in the courthouse and the current court expansion, including the buildout of 15 courtrooms. The expansion project started after the passage of a $683 million bond in 2023 but more money is needed to complete it, Collin County Administrator Yoon Kim said.
“Because of the current scope and our budget, we do not believe we can build out all 15 courtrooms at this time,” Kim said.
Elevator upgrades, roof replacements and other renovations are also included among the potential projects in Proposition A.
The jail portion of the proposition is about $90 million. It looks to construct two clusters of housing with a total of 550 beds, Kim said. The funding will also go toward modernizing elevators and replacing all the cell doors.
About 1,200 inmates are housed at the county jail as of Aug. 10, Kim said. The 550 beds, if approved, could be completed by the end of 2031 and would still be nearing capacity, he said.
“We would be close to being completely full,” he said. “The issue would be how many inmates would we be sending out of county versus to housing in our own facility.”
What else you need to know
Proposition B looks to improve roads in the county as more people move to the area.
The $475 million could go toward major projects, including the service road for Dallas North Tollway, a service road for the Outerloop west of US 75 and a service road from Farmersville to Rockwall County, said Clarence Daughtery, Collin County’s engineering director.
Commissioners said they wanted to keep the projects on the ballot vague so they can address other projects as needed instead of committing themselves to areas that may not need immediate attention.
Proposition C would fund open spaces and parks while Proposition D looks to construct an elections and records facility.
Currently, the county leases space for election needs and for record keeping that amounts to about $650,000 a year, Kim said.
“I don't want to go out for [a] bond anymore than we need to but I don't want to hurt our own operations in the long run,” Commissioner Susan Fletcher said.
If approved, construction could start on the election and records facility in 2027, Kim said.
Looking ahead
Collin County voters will also see a $600 million bond package for Collin College. That package includes several expansion projects and two new campuses.
The last day to register to vote is Oct. 5 for the November election. Early voting runs Oct. 19-25 with Election Day taking place Nov. 3.
