After a criminal investigation was launched in mid-September, Montgomery County District Attorney J.D. Lambright announced the actions of the Commissioners Court were lawful in calling for the Nov. 3 road bond referendum, according to a report released Sept. 25 by Judge Craig Doyal's office.
"It is our strongly held opinion that the action of the Commissioners Court in calling for the Nov. 3 road bond election complied with [the Texas Open Meetings Act] and was lawfully made," according to the report. "As a result, we find no basis in law or in fact (including the furnished emails) that would provide for the Commissioners Court's action setting the election to be voided or subject to either mandamus or injunction."
Posted Sept. 30 at 7:50 a.m.
On the Nov. 3 ballot, voters in Harris and Montgomery counties will decide the fate of two separate multimillion-dollar bond packages designed to accommodate growth and improve mobility.
In Harris County, voters will decide whether to pass four bond proposals worth $848 million. The vast majority—or $640 million—of the $700 million proposed in the Proposition 1 road bond referendum will be allocated to major road and bridge projects and expansions.
“If [the bond] doesn’t pass, we’ll continue to build at the rate we’re building,” Harris County engineer John Blount said. “But the people continue to move here. [Congestion is] just going to continue to get worse and worse.”
Six months after Montgomery County voters turned down a $350 million road bond referendum, the county is proposing a new $280 million referendum.
The proposal comes after Montgomery County Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley and County Judge Craig Doyal signed a memorandum of understanding with The Woodlands-based Patriots political action committee outlining details of the referendum, including the exclusion of the highly contested 6-mile, $22 million Woodlands Parkway extension in Precinct 2.
Harris County bond
Precinct 4, which includes a majority of the Tomball area, would receive 30 percent of the transportation funding in the proposed bond based on the county’s existing formula and precinct boundaries, Harris County Budget Officer Bill Jackson said. However, Blount said Harris County does not provide a list of specific road projects prior to bond elections.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said there are several major projects within his precinct that could be funded through bond money, such as widening sections of North Eldrige Parkway and Telge Road.
In addition to the mobility improvements, other bond referendums up for voter approval Nov. 3 include $60 million in Prop. 2 for parks and trails, $24 million in Prop. 3 to build a new Harris County animal shelter and $64 million in Prop. 4 for Harris County Flood Control District projects.
The county’s property tax rate will not increase if voters approve the bond proposals, Harris County officials said. Jackson said the $848 million in bonds would be issued over the next seven to 10 years beginning in 2016-17, but the county plans to pay off $1.248 billion in debt between now and fiscal year 2022-23.
Even if property tax revenue—which has risen about 6.1 percent per year from 2005 to 2014—does not rise, county officials said the additional debt would not require a tax rate increase.
“If something really dramatic happens over the next 10 years with the Houston economy, we wouldn’t have to build those roads,” Jackson said. “We’re in really good shape [financially right now].”
Although the bonds would benefit Precinct 4, Cagle said the proposed funding will not fund all of the major road improvements needed.
“In [Harris] County, we tend to approach things very conservatively,” Cagle said. “We easily could put into the ground a budget of double that. I know in my precinct there are tons of projects we could [construct], but to do that would require us to not live within the current tax means.”
Montgomery County bond
The $280 million planned for road improvements in the Montgomery County bond package is divided among the four precincts, with precincts 1 and 2 receiving $64 million each, Precinct 3 receiving $84 million and Precinct 4 receiving $68 million. The Magnolia area is located within Precinct 2.
The Woodlands Parkway extension was primarily responsible for the failure of the May bond proposal, Doyal said.
“The biggest issue in the last bond was Woodlands Parkway, and that isn’t on this [bond],” Doyal said. “The need [for a bond] is there—it’s obvious. Drive any part of Montgomery County during any part of the day, and you will recognize that need fast.”
With funding from private developers and entities exclusively, Riley said he believes the Woodlands Parkway extension could be built in the next two to three years.
In the bond proposal, Riley said his Precinct 2 priority projects include a $17.3 million widening of Fish Creek Thoroughfare from two to four lanes, $10 million for design plans, turn lane installation and right of way acquisition for a future four-lane widening of Keenan Cutoff Road and a $9.7 million Nichols Sawmill Road extension project.
Riley said he added Keenan Cutoff Road to the proposed bond projects list to ease traffic congestion for two future Montgomery ISD schools.
“The only two projects I’m depending on [the Texas Department of Transportation] for are the FM 1744 overpass and the Magnolia relief route,” Riley said. “I could be working on all four—Research Forest Drive, Fish Creek Thoroughfare, Nichols Sawmill Road and Keenan Cutoff Road—at the same time and get something on the ground to show these people we’re making progress.”
Should the bond meet voter approval, the increased debt would not result in a property tax increase due to continued growth projections in the area's tax base, Doyal said.
Bond controversy
Riley and Doyal’s partnership with the Patriots PAC to craft the new bond proposal has been met with opposition from some in Montgomery County, including Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Meador.
“I think we are going down a slippery slope, to let one small interest group dictate what happens in the entire county,” Meador said.
On July 14, three of the four county commissioners stated they were not in favor of holding a November referendum and turned down an official motion by Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack to hold a vote.
Doyal and the court announced Aug. 21 they were calling for a special meeting Aug. 24, which was the deadline to place a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot. At the Aug. 24 meeting, the court voted to place the new bond package on the ballot.
Meador said Houston-based criminal defense attorney Chris Downey and the Texas Ranger Law Enforcement Association are conducting a criminal investigation regarding a possible violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act by Doyal and Riley in the days leading up to the partnership with the Patriots PAC. Meador said he could not elaborate on the case.
The bond referendum could be voided from the November ballot in a special meeting to be held in the coming weeks if it is ruled some of the commissioners violated the act, according to the Texas Municipal League.
Additional reporting by Wendy Cawthon and Liza Winkler
