Voters Approve More Than $5.59 Billion in Local Bond Issues

By Ilyas Choudry, TMO

Contracting opportunities worth millions will result from 63 successful votes

Building

While most of the attention in Tuesday November 4th, 2014 Texas statewide elections was focused on a long slate of state and local candidates and a constitutional amendment that eventually passed and will provide billions of dollars for the state’s transportation needs, more than $6.8 billion in local bond elections were also decided.

More than 70 entities – school districts, community colleges, hospital districts, cities, towns and villages – asked voters to approve bond issues. When the votes were finally counted, 63 of those bond issues, with a total value of more than $5.59 billion, had passed. As a result, there will soon be a flurry of activity related to the bonds, with projects springing up across the state from community college construction to public school technology and security upgrades to expansion and renovation of an existing hospital. Contracting opportunities worth millions of dollars will be available to qualified vendors.

Among the issues passed was an Austin Community College (ACC) District bond proposition that will fund $386 million in new construction and renovation projects. ACC Board Chair Jeffrey Richard called passage of the School proposition a “huge win” for the college, its students and the community. “The bond votes reflect the strong partnership we have with the community. Now, we can do even more to strengthen the workforce, expand programs and improve student success,” he said. ACC was one of four community colleges that held bond elections on Tuesday, with a combined value of more than $1 billion.

Although a $1 billion urban rail and highway projects bond issue failed in the city of Austin, other multi-million-dollar city bond issues were successful. A North Texas city was successful in passage of a $236 million bond issue that mostly would dedicate bond proceeds to public works and transportation projects. A Houston area city passed a $5 million bond vote that will pay for a new fire station and fire truck.

School bond issues dominated the bond elections once again in Texas. The largest was a $748 million bond referendum in the Houston area that passed. It will provide for construction of a number of new schools and a $58 million new football stadium. Other school projects that will result from successful bond votes include maintenance of aging facilities including new roofs, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire alarms, security cameras and new, safer entrances. There will be security and technology upgrades, new bus purchases, new school construction, upgrades to athletic facilities, cafeteria and kitchen remodeling and more.

Bond Package, which is available for sale now from the web-link given under, includes a listing of each bond issue, the amount of the bond, which of the bond issues passed and what projects the bonds would fund so that vendors can identify upcoming contracting opportunities. The report also includes information on nearly 50 bond elections being considered for May 2015 and beyond.

Get the Texas Bond Package from here: http://www.spartnerships.com/texas-bond-package/

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