I feel like this would be getting less attention if it weren’t for Mike Miles.
Houston ISD’s $4.4 billion school bond would add an estimated $8.9 billion in debt for the district over more than 30 years if approved by voters in November, according to the election order.
As required by state law, the HISD Board of Managers approved an order on Aug. 8 calling for the school bond election during the upcoming general election. The document includes the ballot language, proposed bond projects and the district’s annual, preliminary projected debt obligations through 2058 if either or both of the propositions in the bond measure pass.
The bond proposes allocating about $2 billion for rebuilding and renovating schools and $1.35 billion for lead abatement, security upgrades, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning improvements. It would also provide $1 billion to expand pre-K, build three new career and technical education centers and make technology upgrades without raising taxes.
It will be split into two propositions on the ballot that people can vote on separately. Proposition A would allocate $3.96 billion for school building renovations and expansions, including safety and security infrastructure, while Proposition B would allocate $440 million for technology equipment, systems and infrastructure.
Along with the listed cost on the ballot, the election order states that Proposition A will include more than $4.4 billion in estimated interest for the debt obligations, which would equal a combined cost of nearly $8.4 billion. Proposition B would add $89 million in interest payments in addition to the $440 million principal payment, with an estimated total cost of $529 million.
In total, if the bond passes, the principal costs of both measures would be about $4.4 billion, while the total estimated additional interest will be $4.5 billion.
According to the election order, HISD would have a debt service of approximately $2 billion through 2043, independent of the bond election results. The two bond propositions, if passed, would add more than $8.9 billion in debt through 2058 — increasing HISD’s total debt service to more than $10.9 billion, according to district estimates.
The projections are based on several assumptions, including a 30-year term for the four bond issues in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028. It also assumes a state-mandated $100,000 homestead exemption, a 5.5% interest rate on the debt and the availability of the Permanent School Fund Guarantee for all debt obligations.
“If the foregoing assumptions are met, the district does not anticipate the need for a tax rate increase to pay debt service on bonds issued pursuant to Proposition A,” the election order said. “Therefore, the estimated maximum annual increase in the amount of taxes imposed on a residence homestead to repay the debt obligations, if approved, is expected to be $0.”
Several HISD parents, teachers and other community members have expressed opposition to the bond due to a lack of trust in state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles, concerns over transparency and accountability and the total cost of the bond measure, which would be the largest in state history if passed. Leaders of the Harris County Republican and Democratic party, HISD’s largest teachers union and the Houston NAACP are among the groups urging residents to vote against both propositions.
“Internal HISD documents reveal that with interest the bond will actually cost nearly $9 billion, more than double the $4.4 billion the district has claimed publicly,” said Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers. “Houston families don’t want to spend 30 years paying off this debt as appraisals rise and our taxes inevitably go up.”
I don’t care for this line of attack on the bonds. I don’t know what the exact conditions were for the previous bonds that we passed in 1998 and 2002 and 2007 and 2012, but I would expect that they were similar in nature – bonds are paid back with interest, interest compounds, and that results in a significant increase in the total amount paid. Take a look at your mortgage or car note sometime and see how much the overall amount paid will be if you just make the regular monthly payments. The numbers will vary and would be less if the interest rate were lower, but the basic math is the same.
And that’s why I don’t care for this. At some point, assuming as I do that this referendum will go down, we will want to pass a bond, as we have done every few years in the past and as so many of the current opponents have voted for before. Everyone agrees a bond is needed, the issue is with this one and that issue is Mike Miles. Why make it harder to do when you want to do it? The reason to oppose this bond issuance if one chooses to do so is because we don’t trust Mike Miles. I don’t see why it needs to be more complicated than that.
And again, if you are undecided on this bond or just want to know what people are saying about it, listen to my interviews with Plácido Gómez and Dani Hernandez for the HISD bond, and Ruth Kravetz of CVPE against it. I hope that helps.
