What is the basic information about the bond election?
On November 6, 2007 the citizens of Collin County will have the opportunity to approve a 328.9 million dollar bond program, divided into three parts:

            Transportation                         $235.6 million   Proposition #1

            Open Space                            $  17.0  million   Proposition #2

            Facilities                                 $  76.3 million   Proposition #3

            Total                                       $328.9 Million

This bond program has been developed by three county-wide citizens committees and approved for the November ballot by the Collin County Commissioners Court.

What is the main reason for calling this bond election?
As the Transportation bond proposal is the most complex of the three and directly addresses Collin County’s most critical issue – traffic mobility/congestion. 

• In 2006 Collin County added 88 people per day and 94 cars per day.
• Population wise, we are one of the fastest growing counties in the United States.  The population in 2030 is estimated at 1,200,000 compared to about 700,000 today.
• Infrastructure must keep pace with the growth.
• The County is participating 50 /50 with the cities and State which will yield $485 million in transportation improvement over the next five years.

The open space proposition is designed to provide long range planning for open space and parks to maintain the quality of life that makes Collin County a special place to live.

The facilities proposition is designed to provide juvenile justice and alternative education facilities, expanded court facilties, and minimum security detention facilities.

Further detailed information is available for each by clicking the links on the top left.

Will issuing the bonds require a tax increase?

There is no tax rate increase needed to issue the bonds.  The Collin County tax rate was lowered 1/2 cent to $ .245 per $100 valuation for 2007 which consists of $ .19469 for operations and $ .050310 for debt service.  There is no expected tax increase for the bonds.   

Debt service at $.055 per hundred appraised value equals $55 per $100,000 valuation. That means a homeowner will get exceptional roads, facilities and quality of life with parks and open spaces for decades to come for about $100 to $120 per year on a $200,000 appraised value and about $150 to $180 on a $300,000 appraised value home--ALL WITHIN THE EXISITING TAX RATE. The bond repayment will vary in the base tax rate as bonds are issued and older bonds are retired.

Since apprasals in Collin County are increasing as the value of the property increases, the total tax paid will increase with valuation increase.  For senior homeowners, Collin County passed a freeze which means the valuation will not increase so fixed income senior citizens will have no increase from appraisals increases or rate increases.

Collin County has a AAA/Aaa bond rating, the highest available and only one of 4 of the 254 counties in Texas with AAA/Aaa rating.  Only 42 of the 610 actively rated counties in the United States are rates AAA.  This means that Collin County pays the lowest interest rates for bonds.

Additional detailed information is available on this web site on the Collin County Tax rate.

Once approved by the voters, the bonds are sold in installments by project or groups of projects over the next five years. Each project is again evaluated in detail in the Commissioners Court and authorized one by one over the next five to six years, depending on need and revenue.   

With the projected growth of Collin County, which drives the growth of revenue from property taxes, no increase in taxes is projected.  If growth in the County were to slow, the Commissioners Court can slow the issuance of bonds and projects to meet growth rates.

Why can’t the County pay for roads, facilities and parks out of the operating budget?
Bond money is used similar to a home mortgage. For example, if you were shopping for a new home, would you be able to write check to cover the cost of the house and then still have the money to cover your daily living expenses? If the County were to try to fund infrastructure for future growth on a "pay as you go” basis, day to day operating funds would be insufficient. A bond (debt) allows repayment over time, matching the benefit with the revenue.

It has been said by opposition to the bond package "...If you have small children, these bonds will be paid off when your children have small children of their own...."  For the most part, that is true.  Debt allows that long term assets be paid off in the long term as the assets are used.  The roads, parks, and facilities funded with this bond proposal will be in use well after the bonds are retired.  The legacy of our county in 2040 will be that the ones that came before planned for the future reasonably and responsibly,

Who decided on the amount and specifics of the bond proposal for transportation?
The Commissioners Court appointed a 37 person committee representing cities and towns throughout the county to develop a proposed transportation bond program.  This committee was supported by an independent consultant as well as city/town and county staffs. 

• The committee was exceptionally well staffed to make recommendations: many staff members were professional engineers, the consultant was a large, highly respected engineering firm, one of the co-chairs has a PhD in civil engineering, another co-chair, a former mayor, led the two prior transportation bond programs and hence has an intimate knowledge of the roads in the county, and Commissioner Jack Hatchell is a professional traffic engineer.
• Joint county and city funding and the use of a citizens committee representing numerous cities/towns assure the funds are spent wisely—where it is most needed to relieve current and future congestion.
• The county and the cities and towns initially submitted 180 projects totaling $1.3 billion.  This listed the roads most needed to minimize congestion caused by local, county-wide, and through traffic over the next 5 years or longer.  These projects were then screened primarily against the following criteria:
• The road must be included on the County’s 2007 Mobility Plan to assure the road is or will be a significant thoroughfare critical to county as well as city/town traffic.
• Capable of a construction start within 5 years to assure the project will have a relatively near term impact.
• Must add capacity and/or provide operational improvement
• City/town funding available for at least 50% of the project cost thereby leveraging the ability of the county and the city/towns to improve both countywide and city/town traffic flows.  Without such leveraging many projects would not be affordable at the city/town level.
• Must result in a fair, balanced program county-wide
• Total county bond participation costs of approximately $200 million
• The projects surviving the screening were evaluated by the consultant and prioritized by the committee on the following criteria:
• Population growth trends
• Average daily traffic volumes for year 2030
• Congestion factor (volume/capacity)
• Cost efficiency (cost/vehicle miles)

The result of this intensive evaluation and discussion is a transportation bond program of 113 projects in 19 cities and towns, as well as the county, totaling $235.6 million in county funds. 

When the city and town funding is included,this totals $484.7 million in transportation improvement benefits to the citizens of Collin County.  The projects represented by this proposal will not increase the county’s tax rate or adversely impact the county’s AAA bond rating.

Why doesn't the county use funds for major freeway expansion?

NCTCOG is responsible for obtaining state and federal funding for building freeways, and the County holds hold them responsible for that funding.  The County uses funds for the major county arterials/thoroughfares.  This is what the 2007 bond program emphasizes.  It was also the emphasis of the prior recent county bond programs.  The Commissioners Court is working with NCTCOG to obtain state and federal funding for state and federal highways.  Expansion of these critical roadways are, and must be, a coordination of State and Federal funding.

The opposition says, "...As Ronald Reagan stated, we must have the clarity of vision to see the difference between what is essential and what is merely desirable. This takes difficult choices, .."

That is so very true.  Collin County for decades was an exporter of labor with commuters streaming into Dallas County via the North Dallas Tollroad and Central Expressway.  The current Collin County has many workers living and working in the County.  The future Collin County will be an importer of labor from other counties.

The extensive transportation study matched forecasted travel needs of County residents for the arteries that are vital and developed an extensive plan to benefit the County.  CLICK HERE FOR A MAP OF THE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE ROADS IN COLLIN COUNTY.  Experts and citizens came together to manage the growth of the County road needs which became the clarity of vision to see what is essential.

What will happen if the bond issue fails?

Failure will result in significant congestion as new county road work could not be completed to support anticipated growth.   Cities would have to fund some work themselves, at a more expensive bond interest rate, and will probably have to reduce the number of projects by half since the County is providing half the funding on these vital roads.

It will take at least 24-36 months to implement new studies and a new bond issue which will delay County expansion of roads until 2010 to 2011.  

How fast is Collin County growing?

In 2006 Collin County added 88 people per day and 94 cars per day. Population wise, we are one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. 

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) briefed the Citizens Transportation Committee on their growth projections for Collin County through 2030 and the implications on county traffic.  NCTCOG projects an employment (jobs) growth within the county of 93% and a population growth of 68%.  The implication of growing more jobs than population on a percentage basis means traffic increases on major county arterials/thoroughfares will be considerably greater than the freeways.  Congestion will also be greater:

            Congestion              Freeways             Major County                                                                                          Arterials/Thoroughfares

                                                                  (6 lane divided)

    Vehicle miles Traveled            63%                 247%

    Hours of delay                        120%               327%

     % lane miles @LOS F             -1%                 45%

NCTCOG is the expert on transportation planning for this area.  From their             information it is crystal clear where the county money needs to go.  The 2007 bond program emphasizes the major county arterials/thoroughfares.