Early voting is open for Texas municipal elections. Here are the school bond elections on North Texas ballots.
North Texans are heading head back to the polls for municipal elections, and some ballots may include public school bonds.
School districts do not receive state funding for necessary building maintenance, upgrades, or even the building of new schools. Instead, they must use voter-approved bonds.
Typically, a bond passage will increase a homeowner's property taxes. In Texas, homeowners over age 65 and who have filed a homestead exemption will not be impacted.
Bonds are broken into propositions. Voters can approve or deny specific layers of the bond if they don't want to approve the whole package.
Early voting opened on Monday, April 20, and runs through Tuesday, April 28. Election day is May 2.
Here's a county-by-county breakdown of the bonds voters will decide on:
Dallas County
- Dallas ISD has $6.2 billion on the ballot. This is the largest school bond package in Texas history. The district said that if the bond is approved, it will cost the average Dallas homeowner an additional $2.79 per month in taxes; that's about $34 per year. The money will fund the replacement of 26 school buildings; upgrades to existing classrooms, playgrounds and athletic facilities; technology upgrades along with new buses.
- Lancaster ISD has a $376 million bond proposal that will allow the district to upgrade their tech infrastructure along with renovations and updates to athletic facilities. The district says this proposal will not result in a tax rate increase.
Tarrant County
- Arlington ISD is offering a $501 million bond package. This includes two new campuses, 45 new school buses, a district-wide facility for their 18 PLUSS special education program, and more. Arlington ISD said this will be an increase of one cent to their current tax rate, which equals $18 more per year.
- Birdville ISD has a bond package worth $475.5 million to address safety and security updates, along with renovations and replacement of aging buildings. The district said it will not increase the property tax.
Denton County
- Pilot Point ISD has a $295 million bond.
- Ponder ISD has a $304.9 million bond.
- Sanger ISD has a $68 million bond.