Road Projects

Hays County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, has implemented aggressive improvements to its roadway system to keep up with growth and allow our citizens and visitors to travel safely and quickly. This improved and expanded road system will create new economic development opportunities in Hays County, attracting new businesses, creating jobs, and expanding the county’s tax base. Hays County remains committed to addressing the safety and mobility needs of the county while enhancing opportunities for continued economic development by using innovative financing and partnerships to bring transportation infrastructure online as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.

Bond Financing

Voters in 2008 and 2016 authorized the use of selling bonds to fund project development and construction costs for projects on the county and state roadway systems. The County has been able to take advantage of its bond rating to sell bonds at low interest rates. Hays County also works closely with its Financial Advisor to time bond refinancing to take advantage of prevailing lower interest rates, significantly lowering the county’s cost to fund transportation improvements throughout the county.

In 2016, Hays County voters approved a road bond program, authorizing $131.4 million in bond financing for 25-plus projects on the county and state roadway systems throughout Hays County. Bond proceeds have been used to fund early project development and in some cases construction. The county has pursued construction funding through the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and regional grant programs. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) selected nine road bond projects to provide some level of development or construction funding for a total allocation of $43.84 million. TxDOT subsequently provided $8.23 million in development and construction funding for several of the projects through various State and Federal funding programs.

Use links below to access updates on the projects:

2016 Road Bond Updates

2016 Road Bond Map

Partnership Program

Hays County funded transportation improvements in a Partnership model formalized between the county and TxDOT in 2013. The county utilized project development and construction savings from its Priority Road Bond (originally funded with General Obligation bonds approved by voters in 2008) and the Pass-Through Financing Program (originally funded with Pass-Through Revenue bonds approved by voters in 2008). The Texas Transportation committed $40 million in construction funding for this program of improvements on the state roadway system. In addition to the county’s contribution stemming from the combination of savings from both earlier road programs and property owner right-of-way (ROW) donations, Hays County partnered with the City of San Marcos for the innovative use of a Transportation Reinvestment Zone (TRZ), which used incremental increases in property tax revenue collected along the roadway alignment to help repay TxDOT for upfront construction costs.
Partnership Project Map

Pass-Through Financing

Pass-Through Financing was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 2003 to address limited funding available for transportation infrastructure and to expand the partnership opportunities for local entities to accelerate improvements. Local entities could pay upfront for approved projects and then be reimbursed by TxDOT once projects were open to traffic. Reimbursement is based on the number of vehicles using the road. While the Pass-Through Finance Program became uniformly administered, Hays County – an early adopter – was able to negotiate a quarterly reimbursement schedule rather than the now standard annual reimbursement schedule. This resulted in the county securing repayment more quickly and reducing project financing costs. For more information on TxDOT’s Pass-Through Finance Program, visit Pass-Through Financing.

Pass-Through Finance Project Map

State and Federal Funding

Hays County has been able to utilize state and federal funding for several of the county’s transportation improvement programs. These funds, flowing through the Texas Department of Transportation, include general obligation bond financing for transportation improvements authorized by the Texas Legislature in 2007 and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds authorized by the U.S. Congress in 2009. Two more state funding sources, Proposition 1 approved by voters in 2014 authorizing an amount of tax revenues from oil and gas production to be transferred into the State Highway Fund, and Proposition 7 approved by voters in 2015 authorizing a portion of state sales and use tax to be transferred to the State Highway Fund, are also providing TxDOT additional capacity to fund construction of many Hays County transportation improvements.