The Eanes ISD community could see a transformative bond on the ballot in May 2027, with dollars going toward each campus.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Scott reported potential impacts of a bond on the district’s debt service tax rate and what steps the board of trustees will need to take next to finalize a package during the Feb. 24 board meeting.

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The board discussed a potential bond and related projects in October. Members of EISD’s Long-Range Facility Planning Committee presented a list of recommended projects at each campus earlier that year during the May 20 board meeting, including:

Moving to a four-elementary school model by closing and repurposing Eanes Elementary as a central hub for the early childhood programModernizing Barton Creek Elementary, Bridge Point Elementary and West Ridge Middle schoolsReplacing entire campuses for Cedar Creek Elementary, Forest Trail Elementary and Hill Country Middle schoolsConducting major projects at Westlake High School, including creating a multistory academic building and library, constructing three parking garages, and expanding the career and technical education space, band and orchestra facilities, gym courts and weight roomsBreaking it down

According to Scott, the full package of the LRFPC’s recommendations would be around $900 million, which would include $800 million for construction costs and $100 million for the maintenance and operations portion. This portion would include work such as technology, bus, roof, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning system replacements.

EISD’s current interest and sinking tax rate—which is used to pay off district debt, including bonds—is 12%, Scott said. Assuming the district does not see growth in its tax base, the I&S rate could reach 43 cents by 2036.

Under a 2.5% tax base growth, the I&S rate could reach 34 cents by 2036. Under a 5% tax base growth, which Scott said is the long-term average, the I&S rate could reach 29 cents by 2033.

A reduced LRFPC package of $200 million or $400 million would lower these rates. Under a $200 million package with a 5% tax base growth rate, the district could reach an I&S rate of 15 cents by 2036. Under a $400 million package, this rate could reach 19 cents by 2036.

“For $200 million or $400 million, you can do a lot,” Scott said. “You can’t do the whole thing, but I think you could still feel very comfortable saying, ‘This is transformative.’ The district would look different if you dedicated that amount of money to our facilities.”

However, Scott said there are several sources of economic uncertainty that could impact this process, including inflation, interest rate fluctuations and potential changes in the legislature such as increases to the homestead exemption, possible property value annual increases capped at 3% and the possible elimination of public school property taxes.

“I think it would be very helpful for us to see a plan of how this could all possibly play out,” trustee Laura Clark said. “We’re going to have a lot of moving parts. … We need to do some strong community engagement.”

Next steps

Scott said this spring, the board will establish project priorities while taking the LRFPC recommendations into account and convert the Bond Oversight Committee into a Bond Advisory Committee.

The first few meetings of the BAC, slated to be held this fall, will establish estimated construction costs in timelines. The committee will also evaluate and prioritize M&O projects

“We feel like we need to front-load a lot of these meetings because this is new to us,” Scott said.

The board would then receive the BAC’s recommendations in December and revise the package as needed before calling for an election in January and holding the election in May.