Texas voters authorized $96.7 billion in total repayment during the May 2026 bond election cycle, the largest amount ever approved in a single May election, according to a report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The report examined 439 bond propositions across cities, school districts, and special purpose districts, finding that 63% passed. In one striking example, a single voter in Denton County Municipal Utility District 7 approved $5.9 billion in debt repayment for Proposition C, while the City of Saginaw's Proposition B passed by just one vote—767 to 766—authorizing $9.6 million.
The cycle saw 439 bond measures proposed statewide, worth nearly $133 billion in combined repayment obligations, according to the report. Cities put forward 26 bonds, with 22 passing at an 88% approval rate for a total repayment of $2.78 billion. School districts dominated the ballot with 122 propositions after refunding bonds were excluded, and 96 passed for a combined $22.1 billion repayment. Special purpose districts—independent entities providing services like water, sewer, and fire protection—proposed 187 bonds after refunds were removed, with 160 passing for a total of $71.6 billion. Fort Worth led all cities with just over $1 billion in authorized spending, while Dallas ISD's $12 billion bond package, the most expensive in Texas history, accounted for 55% of all school district debt approved statewide. Had a 60% voter approval threshold been required instead of a simple majority, the report calculates, 234 bonds would have passed rather than 276, reducing total repayment by $6.4 billion.
The authors argue that current law allows debt to be authorized by "a handful of residents, raising serious questions about whether the democratic check that bond elections are meant to provide is functioning as intended." Turnout in special purpose district elections was particularly thin: only 5 of 289 district elections—1.7%—drew more than 250 voters, down from 6.3% the year before. Tarrant County reported that just 4.1% of registered voters participated in the May 2026 bond election, compared to 63.8% turnout in the November 2024 general election, a more than 15-fold difference. The report notes that Texas's total local government debt now stands at $552 billion across counties, cities, school districts, and special purpose districts, placing $18,939 in debt on every resident.
The report traces the debt surge to what it describes as unchecked local government spending paired with low-visibility elections that obscure the full financial impact from voters. Many special purpose districts begin with minimal populations—state law permits creation of a municipal utility district with a single petitioner—and can approve bonds with equally tiny turnout, yet the debt burden transfers to future residents or, if the district is annexed, to the absorbing city's taxpayers. Ballot language often lists only the principal bond amount without disclosing total repayment cost including interest, and propositions frequently bundle unrelated projects together, preventing voters from approving infrastructure they support while rejecting spending they oppose. The combination of opaque ballot wording, off-cycle election dates, and simple-majority thresholds allows substantial debt to pass with minimal scrutiny or broad consensus, the authors contend.
The report recommends that the Texas Legislature adopt four reforms during its 90th session: raising the voter approval threshold to 60%, establishing a minimum turnout requirement to prevent single-digit electorates from authorizing billions in debt, moving all bond elections to November to align with general elections and boost participation, and mandating clearer ballot language that discloses total repayment costs and prohibits bundling unrelated projects. The authors suggest exempting districts with populations below 250 from turnout thresholds to allow new utility districts to form, while ensuring larger or growing districts face higher scrutiny. The May 2026 cycle authorized nearly double the $33.3 billion approved in May 2024, and the report warns that without structural changes, local governments will continue bringing larger debt packages to voters who increasingly approve them—often without understanding the decades-long tax implications.