One central Texas county is rapidly increasing its debt load, having approved another bond measure on the backs of taxpayers.
Taxpayers in Hays County can expect yet another property tax increase after Hays Consolidated Independent School District’s $250 million bond was approved on Saturday. Critics argued that the measure was extravagant – including a massive, $103 million high school that opponents claimed was unnecessary. At $250 per square foot, it will be one of the most expensive school facilities per square foot in its region.
Hays County already had the second-highest local debt per-capita of counties with a population above 40,000 prior to Saturday’s election. Although skyrocketing debt is a growing concern amongst Hays county residents, the results aren’t really that shocking, considering that nearly every polling location was an HCISD facility.
With the exception of a single location during early voting, every single polling location for HCISD’s bond was located inside of an HCISD facility – with the only location on election day being the Hays Consolidated ISD’s administration building.
The result is hardly unexpected, but what really needs to be stressed is the low turnout. Only around 2,000 people voted in the bond election at all, with 60 and 65 percent approving Propositions 1 & 2, respectively.
Given the low turnout and strategic voting locations, it’s no wonder why the bonds passed – regardless of merit. It appears as though what happened here is that essentially, government employees approved increasing their budget.
In other news, water is wet.
