Despite plans to fund new schools, facility improvements and technology upgrades, district officials said during the May 20 board of trustees meeting that the proposed bond won’t increase property tax rates above the 2024-25 rate.
Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said this proposal comes as students and parents across the district requested improved facilities during town halls and focus groups for the district’s 2025-30 strategic plan, which trustees approved May 5.
“This is not something we bring to you lightly,” Nivens said. “Listening to the communities ask those questions and the students ask those questions is why we bring this to the board.”
The background
Chief Operating Officer Greg Buchanan said the 2025 bond proposal arrived after an April 24 meeting with the district’s bond committee, where members reviewed proposed projects and the financial impact of a new bond. The committee is composed of district officers, Nivens, the district’s financial adviser and legal counsel.
The bond would be part of a long-standing cycle of LCISD calling a bond every three years since 2011, which was only disrupted once in 2022, Buchanan said. Voters approved $1.52 billion of LCISD’s last bond proposal in November 2022, but denied $194.9 million to build a new stadium and $4.98 million to provide new turf and lighting at Traylor Stadium, Community Impact reported.
The proposal
Buchanan said the proposed bond amount stands at $1.99 billion, broken into two propositions.
Buchanan said Proposition A, meant for new facilities and infrastructure repairs, will cost $1.94 billion and will include:
- Seven new elementary schools opening between fall 2027 and fall 2029
- Replacements and additions to several secondary schools
- New high school, middle school and junior high in the Fulshear area
- A fine arts facility upgrade, including expanded auditorium seating, orchestra pit installation and increased prop storage space to either Foster High School, the existing Terry High School or the replacement Terry High School
- Funds toward land acquisition and development, including site preparation
Funding the projects
The 2025 bond could be implemented without increasing the district’s current debt service tax rate of $0.48 per $100 of assessed property value for the 2025-26 school year, Chief Financial Officer Jill Ludwig said.
Although LCISD’s financial records indicate an increase in the district’s interest and shrinking tax rate—used to fund bond projects—since the 2017-18 school year, the maintenance and operations portion of the tax rate has decreased due to state-mandated compression driven by rising property values.
If passed by voters, the bond would bring the district’s outstanding bond debt from $3 billion to approximately $5 billion, which will be repaid over “almost” 35 years, Ludwig said. Bond sales would occur in four phases, starting in 2026.
However, Nivens said individual property tax bills may rise due to increasing property values but not because of a district tax rate increase.
“With everyone coming here, your property taxes will probably still continue to increase, more likely,” Nivens said.
Next steps
Trustee Jon Welch requested detailed project information and community discussions ahead of any vote.
“I want to make sure that we all have a chance to look at [detailed proposals] and ask [administrators] some honest questions, juxtaposing what the administration desires with our representation of the public,” Welch said.
A citizen’s bond committee is scheduled to convene June 10 to provide community feedback, followed by a board deliberation that same month, Buchanan said.
The deadline for entities to call an election for the Nov. 4 ballot is Aug. 18, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website. The final trustee vote on whether to place the bond on the ballot is anticipated to happen by Aug. 13, Buchanan said.
