$280 million road bond to be on November ballot

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - All of Montgomery County wins with the decision by Commissioners Court to put a road bond on the November 3, 2015 ballot, said County Judge Craig Doyal.

The Montgomery County Commissioners Court, realizing our rapid growth demands that we get moving on vital road projects, has voted to place a $280 million road bond on the November ballot, County Judge Craig Doyal announced Monday.

"We have been hearing from a number of residents, supporters and municipalities that they need road solutions now, not next year," Judge Doyal said.

"Hearing that, Commissioner Riley and I decided to reach out to some of the opponents of the bond from the last election to negotiate a framework and agreement upon which we could build broader community support."

"One thing I hear about Washington over and over is that Washington is broken because people stand and argue with each other at the expense of the citizens of this country.

"I want to tell you today, that we listened, we found common ground, and the winners in this issue I believe are the people of Montgomery County."

The proposed road bond keeps the proposed project list largely intact from the May election, with the exception of The Woodlands Parkway extension and Robinson Road widening, which Commissioner James Noack said he will not include. Commissioners will have the discretion to choose which projects to fund from the money allocated. The proposed dollars amounts by commissioners precinct kept the same percentage allocations of the May bond election, but with a lower overall dollar amount of $280 million. The proportions are:


Precinct 1 - $64 million

Precinct 2 - $64 million

Precinct 3 - $84 million

Precinct 4 - $68 million

In addition, commissioners committed to the following principles to guide road bonds and road maintenance going forward.

First, commissioners proposed that to maintain the commitment already made in the current proposed FY 2016 budget they will provide increased funding for road maintenance by $4 million or more. Starting with the 2017 budget, the court will annually allocate to the Road and Bridge Fund a minimum of 10.19 percent (the same percentage as the 2016 budget) of each year's total property tax revenue to be used for road and bridge refurbishing and rehabilitation.

In addition, commissioners agreed that for any road bond issues for 2018, the county would allocate at least 85 percent for of the proceeds from the bond to be used for mobility projects which increase traffic flow through new roads, road widenings, intersection improvements, bridges, elevated roadways or safety enhancements, such as adding a shoulder lane sufficiently wide and strong enough to accommodate emergency vehicles. In subsequent road bonds, commissioners agreed to try to push that to 90 percent.

"We have proposed to minimize the percentage of large-scale maintenance in future bond issues and focus on mobility," Judge Doyal said.

"We negotiated from a position of strength to craft a road bond that will benefit all of Montgomery County.

"It would have been easy to let this die and wait and call for an election in November 2016. However, we had a number of constituents and community leaders from a wide cross-section of Montgomery County telling us why it was so important to find some way to reach out and find a way forward."