The Commissioners Court at its Aug. 19 meeting unanimously approved a $98.6 million facilities bond initiative for the Nov. 3 ballot.

If approved by voters, the bond initiative will fund renovations  and expansions of Fort Bend County buildings and facilities to keep up with the rapid population growth and rising property values in the county.

“If we don’t have a [bond] election in November, we’re going to have to wait at least a year to get anything done,” County Judge Bob Hebert said.

The largest project in the bond package is a $29.2 million, 105,600-square-foot expansion of the Justice Center in Richmond, which includes the construction of 400 parking spaces. Hebert said the future expansion of the center is designed to accommodate larger jury pools. “That’s just a function of population growth,” he said. “We’re going to have to have these facilities in place.”