Opposition to Conroe Independent School District’s $677 million bond and tax hike continues to grow, with the Montgomery County Tea Party joining the list of groups opposing the proposal.

After weeks of extensive vetting and research, MCTP Vetting Committee chairman John Wertz announced the committee’s findings to the tea party’s membership at a recent meeting. The organization then voted to recommend a “no” vote on the Conroe ISD bond.

Conroe ISD’s attempt to pass a similar bond in May failed, with voters defeating their proposal by a wide margin. However, rather than respecting the will of the voters, the Conroe ISD board decided to bring the bond back for a second vote in hopes of obtaining a favorable outcome. The “zombie bond” on the November 5 ballot is substantially similar to the May bond.

According to the MCTP website, “The $677 million in bloated revised bonds still does nothing to enhance the education of those students attending CISD schools.”

MCTP says projects accounting for approximately $300 million of the bond are legitimate needs, such as new schools and security upgrades, but the remaining $377 million is all pork.

The organization also objected to Conroe ISD raising the tax rate in order to service the massive bond debt:

“Conroe ISD raised its debt service tax rate by 4.5 cents to 26.5 cents, higher than in several years, in order to pay for the bond. Conroe ISD is not letting voters vote on whether to approve the tax ‘rate’ which will support the bond debt payments. Conroe ISD’s high debt service rate increase is wiping out all of the benefits of statewide property tax reform our legislature promised.”

The Montgomery County Republican Party is publicly opposing the Conroe ISD bond, as well. Both organizations have recommended voting in favor of Proposition 4, constitutionally banning a state income tax, as part of a “taxpayers fight back” movement.

Reagan Reed

Reagan Reed is the East Texas Correspondent for Texas Scorecard. A homeschool graduate, he is nearing completion of his Bachelor’s Degree in History from Thomas Edison State College. He is a Patriot Academy Alumni, and is an Empower Texans Conservative Leader Award recipient.

RELATED POSTS