Texas voters approved the largest bond proposals on Tuesday’s ballot, including $3.5 billion for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County and $3 billion for the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas.
State and local bond measures on the ballots came to a record $16 billion in the rapidly growing state.
The Metro bonds will finance 75 miles of rapid bus service, 21 new or improved park and ride transit centers and a 16-mile light rail extension to Hobby Airport. Funding for the rest of the $7.5 billion plan is expected to come from matching federal grants and future revenue.
The Metro bond approval was the largest on record in the Houston and Harris County region, surpassing a $2.5 billion bond issue for county flood protection approved last year.
Statewide, voters approved several constitutional amendments to allow bond issuance for state agencies, including cancer research, flood control and water projects in economically disadvantaged areas.
Proposition 2, providing $200 million of bonds for the Texas Water Development Board to finance projects in economically disadvantaged areas was among nine of the 10 proposals approved.
About two-thirds of voters statewide favored Proposition 6 adding $3 billion of bond authority to the original $3 billion passed in 2007.
Proposition 8 that provides $800 million from the state’s rainy day fund for flood mitigation efforts won support from more than 70% of voters. That money comes on top of $2.5 billion of bonds approved by Harris County voters in 2018 to match federal funding when it becomes available.
Another winning proposal, Proposition 3, provides temporary tax breaks for people with property damaged in governor-declared disaster areas.
Proposition 4, which bans a state income tax, won easy passage in a state that relies primarily on property and sales tax revenue. Before this election, the Texas State Constitution required the state to put the idea of an income tax to a vote and only required 50% approval. Proposition 4 places a ban on ever enacting an income tax on individuals.
On local ballots, large school bond issues appeared to be favored by most voters.
With $6.87 billion of bond proposals, 52 school districts account for the largest proportion of issues, followed by 10 cities with $847 million, one community college district with $825 million, and five counties with $713 million.
In Tarrant County, Arlington Independent School District in the Mid-Cities between Dallas and Fort Worth won voter backing for a $966 million proposal. The record request comes five years after voters approved $663 million, leaving the district with about $1 billion of debt that is rated Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA by S&P Global Ratings.
Tarrant County voters also approved $825 million for Tarrant County College District, the district’s first bond proposal in 25 years.
In suburban Houston, voters in the Conroe Independent School District provided a split decision after rejecting an $807 million proposal in May.
CISD voters approved the district's $653.6 million Proposition A for various projects such as $144.25 million for Phase 2 construction at Conroe High School. However, they rejected Proposition B that would have provided $23 million for artificial turf on several athletic fields.
In fast-growing Williamson County north of Austin, voters approved $447 million of bonds to finance road and parks projects.
In El Paso on the western tip of Texas, a $400 million bond proposal for the Ysleta Independent School District appeared to win easy passage.
In the North Texas county of Kaufman, voters approved a record $623 million bond proposal for the Forney Independent School District and $154 million for county road and facilities bonds.
