El Paso County voters may see a bond proposal of $295 million on the November ballot if commissioners approve the Bond Advisory Committee’s project recommendations – which don’t include improvements to Sun Bowl Stadium.

The El Paso County Commissioners Court on Tuesday will hear recommendations for a multi-year capital plan for the county that includes the general obligation bond, as well as $188 million in projects to be funded with certificates of obligation. COs are debts issued by government entities that don’t require voter approval.

Commissioners Court will provide staff direction to narrow the final project list and how to finance each project before formally voting in mid-August whether to order the bond election, according to county agenda documents. Among the recommended projects are a slew of new county facilities such as a far Eastside animal shelter, juvenile justice center expansions, improvements to Ascarate Park and the El Paso County Coliseum, as well as water, wastewater and flood control projects countywide.

In May, the University of Texas at El Paso asked the county to include $99 million in Sun bowl Stadium improvements on the November bond ballot, with President Heather Wilson launching a “Sun Bowl Uplift” campaign. The proposal called for the county to issue the debt for stadium improvements that would attract A-list acts and spur up to $2 billion in economic development in the region over 30 years – the life of the bond.

Although the court could still discuss and consider any project before calling for the bond election, the majority of commissioners have expressed hesitancy to include the stadium on the ballot, saying it was not among the county’s priorities.

UTEP officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Commissioners would have until Aug. 19 to call for the bond election, which would be held in conjunction with the Nov. 5 general election.

“We’ve gone above and beyond, I think, to meet residents where they are, including in some of the most underrepresented parts of the county,” José Landeros, the county’s director of strategic development, told El Paso Matters on Monday. He said the bond committee was diligent in its work and considered public input on a slew of projects before putting forth its recommendations.

The county’s bond advisory committee comprises 11 members appointed by the county judge and commissioners.

Among the committee’s recommendations to be included in the bond are $147.4 million in new county facilities, $84 million in regional and local parks, and $60 million to modernize existing facilities, including upgrading HVAC. Among the individual recommended projects:

• $60 million to modernize the El Paso County Coliseum ($30 million of it for deferred maintenance such as HVAC and restroom upgrades; the rest to be determined)
• $48.6 million to prepare a 75-acre parcel of county-owned land on the far Eastside to relocate the medical examiner’s office and possibly create a medical campus
• $37 million for a building addition and improvements to the El Paso County Juvenile Justice Center 
• $33.5 million for an East Montana animal shelter
• $32 million for an East Montana county annex (county tax office, county clerk, sheriff’s substation, constable/justice of the peace offices)
• $30 million for Ascarate Park improvements, including building an outdoor stage area and walking trails
• $29 million for the Corbin Sambrano Community Center at the site of the former Naked Harem strip club in South-Central El Paso that was seized by the County Attorney’s Office a decade ago

“If approved, this would be a significant investment in infrastructure unlike the county’s ever seen before,” Landeros said, adding that getting to this point was a very deliberate process to take care of essential infrastructure and also invest in quality of life projects.

The county’s financial consultants have said that it has the capacity to finance up to $500 million in debt without impacting its bond rating.

If commissioners call for the $295 million bond election and voters approve it, the debt portion of the tax rate would increase by about 3 cents, Landeros said. That means the owner of a home valued at $150,000 would see a county tax increase of about $45 a year, according to a June 20 presentation to commissioners by Stifel Public Finance. 

Commissioners have considered a bond issue since late 2022, when the court held a capital planning workshop listing up to $100 million in general obligation bonds and another $100 million in certificates of obligation. The county put those plans on hold after residents spoke out against the proposal and promised to petition against the bonds. Commissioners directed staff to consider more public outreach.

However, commissioners in January 2023 instead approved issuing $59 million in COs and another $41 million in tax anticipation notes, a short-term debt instrument that doesn’t require voter approval and are not subject to petition.

In February this year, the court adopted a planning document to help identify capital needs over the next five years. The county held a series of community meetings and conducted an online survey to gather public input, and the Bond Advisory Committee held nine work sessions before forming its recommendations, county documents state.

The county’s capital planning workshop is at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 9, at the Judge Alicia R. Chacón County Commissioners Courtroom, third floor, Enrique Moreno County Courthouse, 500 E. San Antonio St. The meeting will be livestreamed on the county’s YouTube page.