Tomball Independent School District is asking voters to consider a $429 million bond package in the upcoming May election. The proposal, split into four separate propositions, spends millions on infrastructure, technology, athletics, and activity centers.
Texas Scorecard reviewed voter information documents for each proposition to determine the true cost to taxpayers and found the following:
• Proposition A — the largest portion at $331.6 million — would fund new school construction, campus renovations, and new buses. With interest included, taxpayers would pay $578 million.
• Proposition B would spend $18 million on technology, including upgraded devices for teachers and students. The real cost to taxpayers would be over $31 million with interest.
• Proposition C proposes $2.8 million for athletic facility improvements. With interest, taxpayers will pay $4.8 million.
• Proposition D allocates $76.7 million for activity centers at district high schools. With interest, taxpayers would pay $133 million.
The district’s $429 million package would cost taxpayers about $746.8 million with interest, if voters approve all measures.
Projects listed on Tomball ISD’s website include a new Tomball Intermediate School campus.
This new bond comes on the heels of a $494.46 million bond approved by voters in 2021, which funded new schools and facility upgrades. But voters rejected bonds for athletic facilities.
Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora explained in a 2022 workshop on promoting school bonds that Tomball ISD would soon be going back to voters for more bond money because “We got everything we needed for growth, but nothing we wanted for anything else.”
Salazar-Zamora also revealed her strategy of tracking which teachers and staff members had not voted, to help “get over what we needed” to pass the bonds. The Tomball ISD 2025 bond website states that the bond package will not result in a higher total district tax rate for residents, despite being labeled “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE” as required by state law.
However, even at the same tax rate, residents’ property tax bills will increase as their home values increase.
Tomball ISD informational materials say the bond steering committee considered current enrollment, school capacities, and demographic projections to make a recommendation to the board of trustees for a bond. The board voted unanimously to move forward with the propositions.
The committee did not tour campuses in the district as part of its planning.
Early voting will be April 22-29, and Election Day is May 3.
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!
