In Feb. 2023, Collin County Commissioners voted to proceed with a bond election to include in the ballot for the Nov. 2023 elections. In a meeting held in McKinney on Aug. 14, 2023, commissioners unanimously voted for a $683 million bond package that includes five propositions focused on infrastructure improvements for the county.
The package reportedly includes improvements for the county’s animal shelter, jail and courtroom additions, a new medical examiner’s office, parks and road projects.
According to NBCDFW, Proposition E is one of the largest proposed and would pay for multiple highway projects, including finishing the controversial Collin County Highway 380 expansion with a total of approximately $380 million. This proposition includes rebuilding county roads that are expected to be overloaded, developing regional corridor roadways, developing the Outer Loop as well as providing additional funding for U.S. 380.
As previously reported by Local Profile, Collin County officials discovered that federal funding which was originally allocated for the U.S. 380 highway project could end up paying for a project outside of North Texas. A TxDOT budget adjustment revealed that $480 million out of the $610 million originally proposed for the project would be used for other highway projects.
The second largest proposition that’s part of the package is Proposition A with over $281 million for justice facility projects, including the completion of the adult detention center infirmary expansion and renovation project as well as the jail kitchen, an expansion of the Russel A. Steindam Court building and the construction of an additional housing cluster for juvenile justice as well as relocating and expanding the Plano Juvenile Probation Office.
Proposition D for parks and open spaces is the next largest one, making more than $22 million out of the $683 million in the bond package. This would provide cities with an additional budget for the development of parks and open spaces and selected aspects of the construction and renovation of the Myers Park and Event Center in McKinney.
Finally, propositions B and C would include $5.7 million for Collin County’s animal shelter and $13.3 million for a new medical examiner’s office, respectively.
According to Community Impact, during the Aug. 14 meeting, several residents supported the bond, especially for Proposition B which would provide the county’s animal shelter with extra kennel runs, a cat quarantine room and a sick bay, a clinic room with two surgery bays and room for office and storage areas as well as education and meeting rooms.
Collin County residents will be able to vote on the bond on the ballot in the upcoming Nov. 7 election.
This story was originally published on Aug. 15, 2023