A bond election asks voters to approve the school district’s
sale of bonds to financial institutions to fund
construction projects and major purchases such as school
buses and technology.
The bonds are usually sold over three
to five years, which means bond projects will not begin
until funding is available for them. The bonds are then paid
back over an extended period of time similar to a home
mortgage.
The bonds are repaid from the school district's Interest and
Sinking (I&S) fund which is commonly referred to as the Debt Service
Fund. This fund is one part of your school
taxes. The other portion of your school taxes is the
Maintenance and Operation Fund (M&O). The M&O fund helps
with the day to day operation of the school district in
areas such as salaries, benefits, supplies, energy and
contracted services. Your current tax rate, for
example, is shown below.
Maintenance &
Operation -
$1.0400
Debt Service
- $0.4303
Total Tax Rate
2008-09 - $1.4703*
*per $100 of assessed property value
The State of
Texas sets a maximum tax rate for the Debt Service fund of
$0.50. Therefore the school district can only take on
debt that keeps the Debt Service tax rate at or below $0.50.
That is why bond projects are completed over a long period
of time since all of the money is not available at once.
Bond Election
History
The chart below shows all of the
bond elections presented to Allen voters since the school
district was created in 1910.
Year
Amount For % For Against Total
2004 $69
million 3,344
(74%)
1,171 4,515
2002 $55.5
million 1,001
(74%)
342 1,343
1998 $115 million 1,599
(73%)
599 2,194
1995 $75.8 million 2,438 (84%)
460 2,898
1993 $17.3 million 2,272 (74%)
776 3,048
1990 $13 million 719 (33%)
1,406 2,125
1985 $16 million 415
(90%) 45 460
1981 $12.9 million 262
(87%) 38 300
1980 $17.9 million 351
(84%) 63 414
1977 $5 million 188
(94%) 11 199
1973 $3 million 213
(91%) 21 234
1970 $750,000 144 (66%) 75 219
1959 $200,000 106
(100%) 0 106
1953 $6,000 61
(99%) 1 62
1936 $12,000 95 (97%) 27 122
1910 $12,000 47 (90%) 5 52
