Education
BY KELLY SCHAFLER
Fort Bend ISD staff reduces 2023 bond shortfall to $56.8M
Remaining shortfall on May 2023 bond projects
The big picture One avenue for closing the gap on the cost increase is using some or all of the roughly $17 million in bond contingency funds from the district’s 2014, 2018 and 2023 packages, Guinn said. However, state law only allows the district to use 2023 contingency funds for projects within the approved proposition—a limitation FBISD didn’t have for previous bond issues. What else Meanwhile, trustees called for Rogers, Morris and Grove, a firm contracted by the board, to investigate issues relevant to the scope of the proposed natatorium—Proposition C in the bond. In a phone interview, board President Kristin Tassin said the firm will investigate FBISD admin- istration’s intent for the bond project compared to what was communicated publicly. Trustee Angie Hanan has said she believes
As Fort Bend ISD staff continue to chip away at the overage on its May 2023 bond program, trust- ees called for an investigation into Proposition C of the bond, which promised a swim facility for families in the southeast area of the district. As of the July 22 board meeting, staff have reduced the $163.2 million estimated cost increase on FBISD’s $1.26 billion worth of bond projects to $56.8 million. This was done by projects coming in under budget, delaying air handling replacements and modifying construction materials. Chief Financial Officer Bryan Guinn proposed a budget workshop in August to share staff recommendations and get board feedback on the remaining shortfall. “[Those] efforts will require some difficult deci- sions, but we believe we’ll get to a point where we’re meeting the needs of the district within the $1.26 billion that was authorized by voters [in May 2023],” he said.
$200M
-$106.4M
$150M
$100M
$50M
$56.8M
$0
Feb. March April May June July
SOURCE: FORT BEND ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
calling the project a natatorium on the ballot was misleading for voters, because the facility’s design is more similar to FBISD’s existing aquatic practice facility. Building the project as a natatorium, which is over budget by $4.5 million, would cost about $2.6 million more to construct.
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