Houston ISD board votes to saddle taxpayers with nearly $11 billion in debt

(The Center Square) – Multiple news outlets reported that the Houston Independent School District board voted last week to pass a $4.4 billion bond proposal. This total excludes the interest on the principal. When included, it brings the total debt obligation to nearly $11 billion.

To pay for it, the board will authorize levying new, additional property taxes over 33 years, if voters approve the proposal in November. Taxpayers would be saddled with additional debt and taxes through 2058, according to the bond certificate filed by the district.

This is the largest debt and property tax increase proposal in state history.

On Aug. 8, Houston ISD held a special board meeting and unanimously passed two propositions. This is after Houston ISD had seen FBI raids tied to allegations of corruption, record failing grades prompting a state takeover, and enrollment dropping by nearly 15% over the last decade.

Houston ISD residents will vote in November to support or reject increasing their property taxes to cover an estimated $60,000 in debt per currently enrolled student.

If the bonds pass, taxpayers would owe an additional estimated $5,000 per student per year on top of baseline funding and existing per-student debt. Thisassumes the student enrollment stays the same, and students are enrolled for 12 years, including kindergarten and graduating high school. The 12-year estimateisn’t representative of the entire enrollment due to the district’s 40% high school dropout rate, meaning the debt per student ratio would be higher.

The $11 billion before voters in November comes after voters last Novemberalready approved billions in debt in bonds and taxes statewide, The Center Square reported.

Houston ISD is the largest district in Texas with 184,109 students enrolled for the 2023-2024 school year. Enrollment is down from 215,225 in the 2014-2015 school year, according to Texas Education Agency data, or nearly a 15% drop over the last ten years.

According to the bond certificate order, two propositions are before voters. Proposition A calls for a $3.96 billion bond to be authorized for “the design, construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, renovation, expansion, improvement and equipment of new and existing school buildings in the district (including safety and security infrastructure for such school buildings) and the purchase of the necessary sites for school buildings.” 

To pay for it, the order authorizes the board “to levy, impose and pledge, and cause to be assessed and collected annual ad valorem taxes on all taxable property in the district sufficient” to pay the principal and interest on the bonds “and the costs of any credit agreements” related to them.  

The estimated interest for the debt is $4,429,342,063, bringing the total owed for Proposition A to $8,389,342,063.

Proposition B authorizes the school board to issue bonds totaling $440 million to design, construct, acquire, rehabilitate, renovate, expand, improve and upgradetechnology equipment and systems, technology infrastructure and instructional technology. Funding would come through increased property taxes. The board will “levy, impose and pledge, and cause to be assessed and collected, annual ad valorem taxes on all taxable property in the district” to pay the principal, interest, and costs of any credit agreements related to them, according to the bond order.

Estimated interest is $89,401,276, bringing the total debt and interest owed by taxpayers for Proposition B to $529,401,276.

In addition to these debt proposals, the district already has outstanding debt and interest obligations totaling $2,437,854,866 that taxpayers still owe.

Houston ISD’s total debt also increased to $2.9 billion in fiscal 2023, according to Bond Review Board data. 

According to state data, 193,727 students were enrolled in 273 HISD public schools for the 2021-2022 school year. Among them, 79% were economically disadvantaged and 35% were “Emergent Bilingual/English Learners,” meaning English was not their primary language. 

Nearly 62% of enrolled students were Hispanic, 22% Black, less than 10% whiteand 4.5% Asian, with small percentages in other categories.

HISD had a 60% high school graduation rate; student achievement overall received a “C” grade. The majority of students, 69%, did not meet their grade level in all subjects; 43% met their grade level in all subjects; 21% mastered their grade level in all subjects.