About
About This Resource
Independent Voter Education
About This Analysis
The DFW Bond Intelligence Suite is an independent civic intelligence initiative that provides voters, community leaders, and institutional stakeholders with research-grade analysis of the May 2, 2026 bond elections across Dallas ISD, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, and Arlington ISD.
This analysis is built on verified municipal finance data, public records, and original research. It is not affiliated with any school district, city government, or political campaign.
Bond elections in Texas are structurally low-turnout by design — scheduled in May, run off-cycle, and announced with minimal public notice in a way that systematically favors organized interests over everyday residents. The institutional bond buyers and political consultants advising these campaigns have access to detailed credit analysis, passage modeling, and accountability benchmarks that most voters never see. This analysis exists to close that gap. It gives voters in Dallas ISD, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, and Arlington ISD the same quality of information that the professionals already have — so that the taxpayer attending a community meeting, the parent reviewing their school district's promises, and the resident who plans to hold elected officials accountable after May 2 can make the same informed judgment as anyone else.
Methodology
Data Sources
U.S. Census Bureau ↗ · NCTCOG 2025 ↗ · LBB December 2024 ↗ · Texas BRB ↗ · EMMA/MSRB ↗ · gptx.org ↗ · bond.dallasisd.org ↗
Analytical Framework
Every instrument is evaluated across five equity dimensions: who decides, who pays, who benefits, enforcement mechanisms, and displacement risk. This framework draws on Briffault (1993) ↗, Gross (2008) ↗, Stokes (2010), and Thaden (2011) ↗.
Tax Impact Calculations
All tax impact figures use the maximum authorized rate increase and apply it to county-specific median taxable home values from the most recent appraisal data. Actual impacts may be lower depending on the pace of bond issuance.
Assessment Framework
Each jurisdiction is evaluated across five equity dimensions: who decides, who pays, who benefits, enforcement mechanisms, and displacement risk.
Why This Work Matters
Bond elections are low-turnout by design.
Off-cycle scheduling, minimal public notice, and complex ballot language give organized interests a structural edge over everyday residents. The people who have the most at stake in these decisions often have the least information going in.
Public finance is a power structure.
Who decides where $7.9 billion goes — and on what terms — shapes school quality, street conditions, housing access, and neighborhood stability for decades. Those decisions deserve the same scrutiny as any other exercise of public power.
Accountability doesn’t stop on election day.
A vote is the beginning, not the end. Watching how bond dollars get spent, demanding transparency from oversight committees, and showing up to accountability hearings are all part of the same civic act.
Ready to Vote?
Find your polling location, check your registration status, and get free nonpartisan voting help.
866OurVote Texas Voter Resources ↗Or call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) — available in English and Spanish.
More about Common Cause & The Election Protection Coalition
Common Cause Texas
Common Cause Texas is the state chapter of Common Cause, a nonpartisan grassroots organization holding power accountable since 1970. In Texas, Common Cause works to protect voting rights, expand ballot access, reform redistricting, and reduce the influence of money in politics.
Common Cause Texas organizes voters in Dallas, Fort Worth, and across the state — ensuring that every eligible Texan can participate fully in our democracy.
commoncause.org/texas ↗Common Cause
Founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, Common Cause is a nonpartisan advocacy organization with over a million members and supporters nationwide. Common Cause works to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves all people — not just the powerful few.
Common Cause's work spans voting rights, campaign finance reform, redistricting, and protecting our democratic institutions at the federal, state, and local level.
commoncause.org ↗Election Protection Coalition
Election Protection is the nation's largest nonpartisan voter protection effort, led by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The coalition — of which Common Cause is a founding partner — deploys trained volunteers and legal professionals to help voters navigate barriers at the polls.
If you experience problems voting, call the nonpartisan voter protection hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683). Available in English and Spanish.
866ourvote.org ↗For full analysis, investor resources, and engagement inquiries, visit dfwbond.guide.