School bond election
A school bond election is an election to approve or reject the issuance of a bond by a public school district to finance a building project or other capital projects. These measures are placed on the ballot by a vote of the school board. The school board repays the bond with property tax revenue.
Most states require a simple majority to pass a school bond measure, but others, like California, require supermajorities. In the case of California, bond measures must be approved with 55% of the vote.
Bonds are issued to fund new facilities or schools; improvements to school security and classrooms; facility maintenance; school buses; classroom technology; administration buildings; and athletic fields.
Legislation
The following is a list of bills passed, beginning in 2016, related to school bond elections.
2023
- Oklahoma House Bill 1445: The legislation required school districts to post information online about bond measures, including projects to be funded, a description of each project, and an estimated cost for each project. HB 1445 also required that after voters approve a school bond measure, the school district must continue to post updates related to bond projects until projects are completed.[1]
2022
- Florida House Bill 777: The legislation required that local referendums dealing with certain local tax levies, such as tourist development taxes, children’s services special district taxes, local option fuel taxes, school district millage taxes, and others, be voted on at general elections. Therefore, the bill required that these referendum votes cannot be held as special elections.[2]
2021
- Kentucky House Bill 133: The bill decreased the number of signatures for veto referendums against school district tax levies. Before, signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast in the preceding presidential election were required. Under HB 133, 5,000 signatures or signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast in the preceding election, whichever amount is less, are required.[3]
2020
- Wisconsin Assembly Bill 310: The legislation allowed ballot questions to increase the limit on the local levy to be held on the same election dates as a school board referendum and required the ballot question to include the percentage increase from the previous year.[4]
2019
- Texas Senate Bill 30: The legislation required school districts to present separate ballot propositions to authorize bonds for various types of construction projects, such as a stadium, a natatorium, a recreational area, a performing arts areas, and housing for teachers. Additionally, bonds for technology equipment (excluding school security equipment) must be stated in a separate proposition. SB 30 required a plain language description of the single specific purpose for which the bonds were to be authorized.[5]
2018
- Arizona House Bill 2115: The legislation was designed to conform requirements for school bond elections with general obligation bond elections and rename the bond measure informational report to the informational pamphlet.[6]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 1445," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "House Bill 777," accessed June 14, 2023
- ↑ Kentucky State Legislature, "House Bill 133," accessed June 20, 2023
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Assembly Bill 310," accessed June 22, 2023
- ↑ Texas State Legislature, "Senate Bill 30," accessed June 27, 2023
- ↑ Arizona State Legislature, "House Bill 2115," accessed June 28, 2023
