Round Rock sells first bond, sets timeline for projects

Round Rock sells first bond, sets timeline for projects

Written by Rachel Youens Sunday, 07 January 2007

The Round Rock school district waited a year to win its much-needed bond money, and now it is not waiting a minute more to spend it.

Bond Sale

The district is already setting a timetable for construction of new school buildings and preparing to sell the first of four bonds, totaling more than $267 million.

The first will be sold Jan. 16, giving the district $104 million. Of this amount, $87 million will go toward the construction and design of new schools, $1 million toward land purchasing, almost $2 million toward the district’s heating and air conditioning systems, $1 million toward renovation and almost $7 million towards technology. The rest will be split among projects such as roofing, security and curriculum.

“Taxpayers will start seeing the increase in their property tax next October,” Mike Estes, director of budget and business services, said. “The district will begin paying on the bonds in the next tax year.”

The district is using the debt services fund to buy down the tax rate for the next three years, so in 2007 tax payers can expect to see the debt service portion of their property tax move from $.30 to $.34.

To assure voters that bond money will be well spent, the district has put together a bond oversight committee. The 14-member group, seven experts appointed by the school board and seven citizens appointed by Supt. Jesus Chavez, will track the progress of projects.

New Schools

The new school buildings in the bond will start opening in the 2008-09 school year and include Patsy Sommer Elementary, a new elementary in Turtle Creek and a middle school at Walsh Ranch. The district will save $250,000 in design fees by replicating the design of Patsy Sommer for the Turtle Creek school and the third elementary.

The unnamed third elementary, included in the third proposition of the bond package, is high on the district’s list for quick completion. This school was set to open for the 2009-10 school year to offset crowding at Cactus Ranch Elementary, due to be at 150 percent capacity by 2008-09. However, the most recent enrollment projections for Cactus Ranch show it will hit 150 percent not by 2008, but by 2007.

If there is enough money from the first bond sale, RRISD’s Director of Transportation Dan Roberts has proposed that the opening of the third elementary be pushed forward to the 2008-09 school year. In addition to dealing with the crowding, building the school early would save the district a year of construction inflation and almost $1.25 million in portable buildings the district would have to buy to house the new students. The school will be in the northeastern area of the district, and although a location has not yet been determined the district is considering sites near Teravista, Paloma Lakes and Ryan’s Crossing.

New Boundaries

Besides building new schools, the district will also be redrawing boundary lines to balance enrollment numbers. These new boundaries will accommodate the schools set to open in the 2008-09 school year and help lower the number of students at overcrowded schools.

The district has also formed a citizen’s boundary committee to receive input from the community on future boundaries.