MISSION — The Sharyland school board is once again eying a bond election to pay for facility improvements and additions after the defeat of a similar proposal in the November 2020 election.
Although the board is considering the same overall amount — $40 million — and similar improvements, two new factors are at play.
On the one hand, fresh computations indicate the bond wouldn’t result in a tax hike for residents in the district, a factor that would likely make it an easier sell to voters.
On the other, possible legislation in the Texas House of Representations could make it more difficult for Sharyland and all other Texas districts to successfully pass bonds.
Sharyland’s November bond was divided into two parts.
Proposition A would have set aside $34 million for additions and renovations for Sharyland High School, Sharyland Advanced Academic Academy (SA3), and John H. Shary Elementary.
Proposition B would have allocated $6 million for a new headquarters building for the district.
Prop A failed by 7.78% while Prop B failed by 11.52%.
Sharyland homeowners would have seen a maximum tax rate increase of .03 cents until 2025 if that bond had been approved.
New projections indicate that if voters opt for a $40 million bond package in the upcoming election, their taxes would not increase District CFO Ismael “Smiley” Gonzalez said at a board workshop.
“If we did request a bond election for the upcoming May 2021 election, we could move forward with that and see a sustained tax rate through 2025, all the way through 2033 when we see a dip,” he said. “So that right there would result in a no tax increase, where our taxpayers or stakeholders would not see an increase in their taxes after this year.”
Although good news for the potential bond’s prospects, Trustee Ricky Longoria noted that passing it would also mean residents wouldn’t see their taxes fall.
“When we say no increase in taxes, that’s a good thing, I like hearing that,” he said. “But knowing money’s not free, the opposite of that I believe, is that the public is forgoing a decrease in tax if we don’t do the bond. And so I just think we need to be transparent that way, that the public is giving up something.”
It’s possible that legislation in Austin could throw a monkey wrench into plans for the bond.
If passed, House Bill 35 filed by Valoree Swanson (R-Spring), would render bond elections ineffective if less than a quarter of registered voters turn out for the election and would move all bond elections to November.
Gonzalez said if that bill is passed it could, but likely won’t, affect the May election.
“If this is passed within the next coming several months, this is something that would probably go into place this coming November,” he said.
He said it would take about 7,000 out of the district’s roughly 25,000 voters participating to pass the bond if that bill is enacted.
The November 2020 election drew out voters in record numbers. The district saw its props draw 14,798 ballots for A and 14,748 for B.
Just 977 votes were cast altogether in the district’s 2011 schoolhouse bond election, unofficial voting tallies from Hidalgo County show.
No race in the 2015 trustee election drew more than 2,000 votes, according to Monitor archives.
If HB 35 is passed, Superintendent Maria Vidaurri told the board, it could put even more pressure on to sway voters to support the bond.
“Again, it has to be 100% everybody on board, and we just have to really go out door-to-door and really sell this and share this information with the public, if we all decide together as a team that this is the way we want to go,” she said.
The board has until Feb. 12 to decide whether to call a bond election.
