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Rejection allows time to retool bond plans
Published November 8, 2009
More than one person commented on Election Day that they had just received their property tax bills the day before.
It was bad timing for those campaigning for local bond elections, for sure: a reminder that votes for new schools, new libraries and other facilities have price tags, and that we’re the ones buying, with our votes.
“It’s almost as if the tax office is working against the school districts,” a few people murmured.
They weren’t, of course. And the thing is, they didn’t have to.
The coincidental timing of tax bills going out at about the same time as people head to the polls surely put a pit in the stomachs of the bond architects who worked so hard to get the issue before voters and to sell them on it. Almost everyone had decided how to vote by then, though.
Most had their minds set the day the bonds were announced: no higher taxes, no matter how good the deal, no matter how much justification. Voters said the economy is too tenuous right now for new projects, even if we can get a good deal, and even if the need is great.
Manvel wanted a new city hall and new library, and with the city growing so quickly, even if that growth has slowed for now, those seemed like good investments. Voters tanked the proposition, though, with 62 percent voting against.
In Danbury ISD, $8.9 million was too much for an athletic facility and school renovations that would have added classrooms, voters said, but the margin of defeat was smaller, at just 41 votes, according to unofficial totals.
Brazosport ISD’s huge $166 million bond included a lot of unarguable needs like school buses, roof work and keeping Jane Long Elementary from sinking into the ground. The more arguable “needs” like a natatorium and fine arts wing, added to dwindling student numbers and a still-uncertain local economy, kept it from passing, though.
Will that prove a short-sighted move? Will the economy rebound quickly, before the tax increase would have hit the books? Will the job market stabilize, causing us to loosen the grip on our wallets, and will we end up paying more later for what would have been discounted by no-interest federal loans and lower construction costs now?
The success of a bond election is at least 50 percent timing, probably more. For Brazosport ISD, Danbury ISD and the city of Manvel, the timing certainly was bad. That probably wasn’t the only reason for those bonds to fail, as readers are telling us on this page.
The good news for all of them, is that now, while they wait for the economy to improve, they have time to retool their proposals.
The local bonds had tight enough margins to make us believe a better economic climate could have switched enough “no” votes to “maybes” and “maybes” to “yesses”, but proponents can’t count on that. They must work to show voters they took this week’s rejection seriously before they can float another bond and expect it to pass.
This editorial was written by Yvonne Mintz, managing editor of The Facts.
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