Reprint from the Progress Times - November 9, 2007
©Progress Times 2007 - All Rights Reserved

LJISD bond passes despite low turnout

Although only 668 votes were cast in total, 448 of them were in favor of a $94 million bond for school construction projects in the La Joya school district. According to LJISD officials, as of 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday, all votes had been counted and the bond had passed by a margin of 228 votes.

The bond issue, which will be used to accommodate rapid growth and alleviate overcrowding within the district, will help the district qualify for state aid in the form of the Instructional Facilities Allotment (IFA). IFA is funding available to property-poor school districts and is calculated based on student Average Daily Attendance (ADA). LJISD is currently the 20th poorest district in the state of Texas.

The IFA, while primarily aid, requires the district to first have a qualifying bond approved by voters for the purpose of instructional facilities only. Once that bond is passed, the state is committed to paying 80 percent of the debt share, leaving the remaining 20 percent to be paid by the taxpayers.

To pay the 20 percent local debt share, the district is looking to increase the current tax rate by 7.14 cents. With an issuance term of 30 years, the rate increase will create around $94 million.

This bond issue, specifically, will consist of $30 million in 2004 bond issue cost overruns, $33 million in 2006 bond issue cost overruns, $27 million for proposed facilities in the district, $4 million for remodeling expenses and $9.6 million in "other IFA expenses."