Planning and Implementing a Voter-Approved Capital Bond Issue for the Alamo Community College District

Abstract

The Alamo Community College District (ACCD), now called the “Alamo Colleges, ’ is the second largest community college system in Texas and the eighth largest in the United States. ACCD’s enrollment increased 36 percent from 38,850 credit students (headcount) in the fall 1998 to 52,781 in the spring 2005. During this time of unexpected dramatic growth, no new buildings had been completed, even though there was a need for them. Financial demands on the operating budget limited the availability of funds to use to rent or lease additional classroom space and the real-estate market did not have sufficient available capacity to meet the demand for classroom space. There were other options that could be used to finance the lease, purchase, or construct new classroom buildings. However, the board of trustees selected to use financing methods that had worked in the past. The preferred method to finance the new building construction was through the sale of general obligation (GO) bonds that would require a referendum approval by voters of the taxing district for a property tax increase for a period of 30 years.