Last month, the Friendswood Independent School District (FISD) ordered an election to be held on November 4th, 2025, at which time voters will decide on 4 separate bond propositions. According to the district’s bond promotion website, the measures are as follows:
- Proposition A proposes a $154,750,000 bond issuance for the purposes of constructing and redesigning district facilities to include a new Westwood-Bales campus, renovations to Windsong elementary school, accessible playgrounds, athletic facility renovations including locker rooms, the agricultural science center, and the purchasing of new school buses.
- Proposition B proposes a $2,000,000 bond issuance for the purpose of acquiring and improving classroom technology (i.e. new computers and tablets).
- Proposition C proposes a $4,250,000 bond issuance for the purpose of constructing, improving, and equipping recreational facilities in the district, including improvements to the baseball and softball fields.
- Proposition D proposes a $4,000,000 bond issuance for the purpose of refunding and refinancing the district’s Maintenance Tax Notes.
While these informational summaries are helpful in some regard, the language is also incomplete as the prompts lack the full cost for each proposal. That is, the descriptions do not contain estimated principal and interest amount(s) required to pay the proposed debt(s) in full.
Voters can learn these details, but to do so, they’ll need to examine each proposition’s Voter Information Documents (VIDs), which relay important details about the proposed issuance, existing debt, tax impact, and more. Hence, based on each proposition’s VID, stakeholders may come to understand that the actual cost FISD’s bond package is as follows:
- Proposition A: The proposed principal debt is $154,750,000; the estimated interest costs are $169,533,571; and the total repayment is $324,283,571.
- Proposition B: The proposed principal debt is $2,000,000; the estimated interest costs are $496,445; and the total repayment is $2,496,445.
- Proposition C: The proposed principal debt is $4,250,000; the estimated interest costs are $1,054,946; and the total repayment is $5,304,946.
- Proposition D: The proposed principal debt is $4,000,000; the estimated interest costs are $3,572,267; and the total repayment is $7,572,268.
Final thoughts
In the final analysis, FISD’s $165,000,000 bond package will ultimately cost $339,657,230, if and when all measures are approved and paid back in full. Thus, the addition of the interest component effectively doubles the cost of the district’s bond package.
In this instance as well as all others, it is important for voters to have a complete understanding of bond propositions, both in terms of what they will fund and what they will actually cost. It is critical that voters have this type of information to make prudent decisions and invest wisely.
Fortunately, thanks to the VID concept, Texas taxpayers have a tool available to help attain this informed perspective.
