Bryan ISD presents $397 million bond plan, officials say tax rate will not rise

Bryan ISD leaders presented detailed information about a proposed $397 million bond package during the Nov. 3 board meeting and urged voters to consider three separate propositions on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Deputy Superintendent Dr. Brian Merrill said the package is driven largely by priority maintenance needs and long-deferred infrastructure work. He told the board the proposal is organized into three propositions: Prop A (general/priority maintenance, about $325 million), Prop B (athletics, roughly 17 percent of the total) and Prop C (technology, about 1 percent). "Every campus will be impacted by this bond," Merrill said, adding that priority work includes roof repairs, plumbing, electrical and HVAC replacement.

Bobby Griffin and the district finance team described a multi-year approach that relied on early principal payments and conservative debt practices to place the district in a financial position to issue the bonds without raising the district's tax rate. "These efforts have saved taxpayers millions of dollars in interest and have positioned the district to issue $397,000,000 in new bonds without increasing the district's tax rate," a presenter said. Officials emphasized the state-required ballot language that reads "this is a property tax increase" does not mean the district will raise its tax rate; in Bryan ISD's case, the district expects the rate to remain the same.

Officials walked through common public questions: how voters cast ballots (there are three separate yes/no votes for Prop A, B and C), how the district can finance technology items for the life of that equipment, and why priority maintenance comprises the bulk of the request. Merrill said the district will post slide decks, fact sheets and sign-in materials at bryanisd.org and has used social and local media to publicize the proposal.

Asked about specific athletic items, staff said the bond would rebuild the Merrill Green field house (not the entire stadium), replace or install synthetic turf at some fields, resurface tracks and make other upgrades to dressing-room and band facilities. On CTE and fine-arts funding, leaders said the bond includes renovated labs, a cosmetology and barbering lab at Rudder, and funding earmarked for equipment and potential new multipurpose or ag teaching facilities.

The presentation closed by reminding voters that early voting and Election Day information are available online; board and staff encouraged turnout on Nov. 4. No formal board action on the bond occurred during the meeting; the district's outreach and the upcoming election were framed as the next steps.