Court OKs AISD bonds, taxpayers union's ballot language challenge fails

In a court hearing July 15, a Travis County district court denied the Travis County Taxpayers Union's attempt to stop the spending of Austin ISD bonds with a lawsuit regarding the district's ballot language.

"Today's court ruling validates the results of the May election and paves the way for AISD to proceed with the issuance of the public securities approved in that election," the school district said in a statement.

Travis County Court Judge Tim Sulak ruled in favor of AISD on its expedited declaratory judgment action to validate the results of the May 2013 bond election, which AISD's attorneys, Andrews Kurth, LLP, filed a petition for on May 29. This will allow the district to proceed with its efforts to implement bond projects, according to an Austin ISD statement.

"We're pretty upset about this," said Don Zimmerman, TCTU founder and Political Action Committee treasurer. "We had an excellent case, and I think a dispassionate, non-political legal observer would look at our case and say that's a solid legal argument."

Austin voters May 11 passed two of Austin ISD's four bond propositions, while the other two propositions failed. Before the election, the school district stated that for the four propositions, the bonds' anticipated cost for the average taxpayer with a $200,000 home would be about $70 a year or $5.75 per month. Zimmerman said that estimate misled voters and explained that although state law requires ballot language to disclose that the potential costs of bonds are unlimited, Austin ISD's ballot language excluded that information.

During the hearing, the TCTU was asking the court to invalidate the bonds, Zimmerman said. Zimmerman said that to appeal the decision, the TCTU would have to pay $15 million to the court. The taxpayers union will take some time to consider its next steps, he said.

"We are discussing our options because this is kind of unprecedented," he said. "This is not the end. This is a new beginning."