How Texans Voted on the Ten Largest Bonds of the 2020 General Election

As we reported last month, voters decided on bond packages totaling over $12.7 billion on election day. The results are now in, and, according to the Texas Bond Review Board, voters approved over $9 billion dollars worth of bonds. Of the top ten largest bonds on the ballot, voters approved eight and rejected two. Here’s a brief look at each of those elections:

10. Fort Bend County: $218,200,000

Passed

Fort Bend County passed two bond propositions. The larger of the two, meant to fund various infrastructure items under the label “mobility projects” passed with over 75% of voters supporting the measure.

9. Dallas ISD: $270,000,000

Passed

Dallas ISD had five bond propositions on the ballot totaling nearly 4 billion dollars. However, only the two larger bonds passed, including a $270 million bond for technology. The technology bond passed with just under 52% of voters supporting the measure.

8. Amarillo: $275,000,000

Defeated

Amarillo faced a heated bond election involving several projects related to civic center improvements. In the end, voters rejected the bond with just over 61% of voters opposing the measure.

7. Wichita Falls ISD: $276,420,000.00

Passed

Wichita Falls ISD had two bond propositions on the ballot, though only the larger of the two passed.  This bond will fund two new high schools on the eastern and western sides of the city. The bond passed with just over 50% of voters supporting the measure, with a margin of only 341 votes.

6. Frenship ISD: $299,700,000

Passed

Frenship ISD passed a nearly $300 million bond funding the construction of new schools and renovations on Frenship High School. The bond passed with just under 60% of voters supporting the measure.

5. Austin: $460,000,000

Passed 

Austin passed Prop B, a $460 million bond to fund a several transit items such as sidewalks, bikeways, road improvements, and urban trails. Austin also passed another larger $7 billion measure for a light rail system, though that project was not presented as a bond on the ballot. Prop B passed with just over 67% of voters supporting the measure.

4. Lamar CISD: $645,228,864

Passed

Of the four bond proposals put forward by Lamar CISD, two, including the largest, passed. The largest bond, worth nearly $650 million, will fund new schools and improvements to existing schools. The bond passed with over 66% of voters supporting the measure.

3. Northwest ISD: $937,702,000

Defeated

Voters defeated a nearly $1 billion set of bonds put forward by Northwest ISD, a school district in the DFW area. Opponents of the bond criticized the timing of the bond, while the district’s superintendent claimed the bond failed due to state requirements regarding ballot language. Prop A, by far the largest of Northwest ISD’s bonds, had just over 60% of voters opposing the measure.

2. San Antonio ISD: $1,210,000,000

Passed

Voters passed a $1.2 billion bond put forward by San Antonio ISD funding school renovations.  Voters also approved a smaller $90 million bond for technology improvements. The $1.2 billion bond was the largest in San Antonio’s history and passed with over 68% of voters supporting the measure.

1. Dallas ISD: $3,271,600,000.00

Passed

By far the largest bond on the ballot was the $3.2 billion dollar Dallas ISD bond funding renovations of existing campuses and the construction of new campuses. This bond, the second largest in Texas history (only slightly smaller than the $3.5 billion transit system bond passed in Harris County last year), passed with just over 53% of voters supporting the measure.