Hood County outlines $149 million bond package for jail and roads, urges voter support to unlock state and federal funds

Hood County is asking voters to approve two bond propositions — a $24 million jail expansion (Proposition A) and a $125 million road program (Proposition B) — that county leaders say will leverage state and federal funds and reduce long-term costs, consultant John Polster told the Granbury City Council on Oct. 21.

Polster, who is working with Hood County and the county's consultants, said the package is designed to secure environmental clearance and preliminary engineering for nine road projects and to add local capacity for a jail that the county argues would be cheaper than outsourcing inmate housing. “We anticipate to get an additional $4 back from the state,” Polster said, describing the county's plan to use local dollars to attract roughly four dollars of state and federal funding for each local dollar spent.

The bond program responds to rapid population growth and congestion, Polster said. He presented the county's financial analysis showing that the status quo — continuing to house inmates in other counties — would cost the county about $251 million over a 20-year period, while building and operating a local jail (Polk County figure presented as a $24 million facility with debt service included) would cost the county less over the same period; county consultants estimate a net savings of roughly $42 million over 20 years if the county builds the facility and keeps inmates in‑county.

Polster reviewed nine candidate road projects the county included on the Prop B list. They include work tied to the US 377 breakout project (a $127 million TxDOT “breakout” job Polster said is fully funded and expected to advertise for bids in late 2025 with construction timing into 2026), a Falls Creek/FM 167 relief route, a SH 171 railroad intersection redesign to make the crossing perpendicular, Strouds Creek connectivity and low‑water crossing elevation work, Mitchell Bend river crossing improvements, Misty Meadows extension near a high school, improved access from Pecan Plantation South for emergency evacuation, and a corridor clearing and phased construction approach for Old Granbury Road. Polster said the county put projects forward that the North Central Texas Council of Governments (the regional MPO) and TxDOT had identified as priorities and that the county had modeled needs through 2050 in its thoroughfare plan.

Council members pressed Polster on safety and prioritization. Councilmember John Wadley asked whether improved capacity would affect emergency response; Polster said increased capacity and more predictable intersections typically shorten EMS and police response times. Councilmember Jim Gordon asked why US 377 was not on the county bond list; Polster replied that Granbury, TxDOT and the MPO have already advanced the 377 breakout project and that the county is focusing its bond funds on complementary corridors and intersection work that will make later phases feasible. On prioritization, Polster said Old Granbury Road “is gonna be in the top first issuance regardless” and that some projects would be started by funding environmental clearance and schematic design (the least expensive early phase).

Polster and council members also discussed tax and debt-service effects. He said Hood County's internal budget assumptions are conservative and that the county expects to issue bonds in a way that keeps debt service under an existing interest-and-sinking (I&S) tax rate that will decline as older debt is paid off. He cautioned, however, that state law requires ballot language to say in bold that a proposition is a tax increase even in cases where the county's planners expect to remain within the current I&S structure.

Polster warned the council that failure of the bond program would make it harder to compete for state and federal funding. “If you're not in the game helping them deliver their projects, then they're gonna go where people are helping them,” he said, adding that regional competition from larger counties can reallocate limited state and MPO funding.

Polster also reminded voters of practical next steps: the county's website contains the thoroughfare plan, financial analysis and ballot materials; early voting locations are listed on the Hood County site; and a QR code on the county packet links to those materials. He said the county commissioners court voted on Aug. 12 to call the election for the two propositions.

The presentation was informational to the Granbury council; the bond propositions are county ballot items and the county commissioners court has already taken the action to call the election. Polster said the US 377 breakout project is fully funded and expects utility relocation work to start in late 2025 and construction in 2026, while other projects on the county list would begin with environmental and schematic work once local matching funds are available.