Montgomery County faces difficulties getting bonds passed

"We simply don't have [the money] today," Precinct 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said. "We would have to find someone to partner with in the private sector or find some other source of funding with developers. We don't have the dollars to go out and construct new roadways or add capacity to existing roadways. We don't have enough to maintain the roadways we have."

Doyal and Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said the county would likely seek voter approval for a road bond election in November 2015.

"The voters are different," said Julie Turner, president of the Texas Patriots PAC, a Montgomery County Tea Party organization. "They are paying attention and demanding more accountability. Politicians are lagging behind. Voters are asking 'do we really need it?' Look at what we already have and reallocate dollars based on need."

County bond plan

Noack said to get a future bond proposal approved, the county would need to do more to appease voters.

"If you're going to pass a bond election in Montgomery County, you need to have a list of projects, they have to be prioritized, you have to clean up the current county budget and eliminate possible waste," he said. "If we can shave 5 percent off a $280 million budget, that is $14 million that we could use for payments of the future bond."

Turner said the Texas Patriots PAC, which opposed the 2011 Montgomery County bond election and the last Lone Star College System bond election, would potentially support a bond election with a tax increase, if it were to meet certain criteria.

"[A tax increase] would have to be justified," she said. "We're probably wasting a big chunk of our budget. We probably could do a lot more without even considering raising taxes."

Noack, however, is not sure that a bond election would pass if it were to include a property tax increase.

"I don't know if they would approve it," he said. "If the tax rate increase is necessary, I think it would make it much harder to pass. We're going to have to do a better job with the money we have. People are very heavily taxed because valuations keep going up."

Montgomery County Democratic Party Chairman Bruce Barnes said he believes frustration over the recent economic crisis led people to turn down recent bond elections.

"When people get angry, they come out and vote," he said. "And they are the voters who have said no to taxes and no to passing bonds. And I don't think that is going to last at all."

Barnes said bond projects create jobs and the current economic climate is favorable for bonds.

"Bond issues do create jobs; they do get things done," he said. "Especially right now when we have low interest rates. We should be taking advantage of those rates to get our infrastructure back together."

Although a bond election may be two years away, both Noack and Doyal have identified potential road projects that may be included in the proposal. They also said the county will know about potential projects once the results of a south Montgomery County mobility study are revealed next year.

Noack said he believes another north-south connector is needed east of I-45 from the Montgomery-Harris County line north to Hwy. 242, while Budde and Nursery roads need to be expanded. He also said the center portion of Rayford Road needs to be expanded and a second lane could be added to the Woodlands Parkway flyover.

Doyal cited the expansion of FM 2978 as his highest priority, as well as widening McCaleb Road from FM 2854 to Hwy. 105.

"In a year we are going to be in a much stronger position to say these are our needs and the associated costs, these are the projects, these are the costs of the projects, and this is the effect on the tax rate," Noack said.

Tomball ISD bond success

One entity that has not had a problem getting bonds passed is Tomball ISD. District voters approved a $198 million bond in 2007, which funded five new schools, including a second high school, and built four additional support facilities.

Voters in May also approved a $160 million bond to fund four new schools and pay for renovations at all existing schools. Tomball ISD called the bond election in response to a surge of growth in the northeast and southern regions of the district.

Sixty-nine percent of voters in Harris and Montgomery counties, or 1,312 residents, supported the bond, while 31 percent, or 588 voters, opposed the bond. In Harris County, 1,209 voters (73 percent) supported the bond, compared with 442 (27 percent) opposed. In Montgomery County, 146 voters (59 percent) opposed the bond and 103 voters (41 percent) supported it.