Montgomery County commissioners on April 9 moved toward developing a bond election for a number of road and infrastructure projects across the county, projecting scenarios from $165 million to $1 billion in cost.

What are the options?

John Roebuck, managing director of BOK Financial Advisors, presented four scenarios for the potential tax rate impact of a November bond issue. Commissioners are able to modify the options to extend the number of years bonds will be issued from three to five years as well as changing the final dollar amount.

The options presented were:

Option 1: $165 million
  • $55 million issued every year, 2025-27
  • No tax rate increase
Option 2: $500 million
  • $165 million-$175 million issued every year, 2025-27
  • $0.015 per $100 assessment tax rate increase
Option 3: $750 million
  • $250 million issued every year, 2025-27
  • $0.029 per $100 assessment tax rate increase
Option 4: $1 billion
  • $335 million issued every year, 2025-27
  • $0.043 tax rate per $100 assessment increase
What they're saying


“Given just the projects we have and human resources, labor ... it's a reasonable time frame,” Roebuck said of the three-year period. “If we decide we want to spread this out for you, maybe four or five years, that'll actually lower the [tax rate] back. So this is just a conservative starting point.”

Sorting out details

Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said the county should consider separating the bond issue to allow the county to use bonds for major infrastructure projects, such as:
  • Animal shelter rebuild
  • Montgomery County Courthouse rebuild
  • Montgomery County Tax Office expansion
“I think we can all agree that roads are the most important tool we need done, and we don't want another project to get in the way of keeping us on the road bond,” Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said.

Roebuck said the state usually requires infrastructure projects to be listed separately from road and bridge projects in bond issues.


What’s next

The court agreed to hold a public workshop April 23 following the regular meeting of Montgomery County Commissioners Court. During this meeting, commissioners will discuss road projects and additional projects which could be presented in separate propositions.

Commissioners will have until Aug. 19 to officially put the bond issue on the ballot for voters.