Bastrop school district voters next month will decide an $88.5 million bond called to pay for upgrades to district facilities, reorganization of schools and boosting capacity at the growing district.

The election comes a year after voters rejected a similar $75 million bond measure with 54 percent of voters coming out against the proposal. Voters also rejected a 13-cent tax ratification that would have helped fund day-to-day operations at the district. That tax proposal failed with 64 percent of voters voting against it.

More than 15,000 citizens voted in the school district bond and tax ratification elections last year after a contentious presidential election featuring Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at the top of the ticket drove voter participation to record numbers.

School district Superintendent Steve Murray said the district lost out on both measures last year by narrow margins that was affected by high voter turnout in the national election. Typically, in years with no presidential or gubernatorial elections on the ballot, like this year, voter participation is lower.

"The needs of our district are there, and we know we will have to address them sooner or later," Murray said.

The bond proposes to:

• Fund upgrades and additions to Bastrop High School

• Completion of Cedar Creek High School

• Conversion of Mina Elementary to Colorado River Collegiate Academy, Genesis High School and a service center

• Expansions to Bastrop and Cedar Creek middle schools

• Opening of a third middle school

• Conversion of Bastrop Intermediate School into the new Mina Elementary

• Opening of a seventh elementary school

• Lovers Lane facilities projects

• Expansion of Career & Technology Pathways

• Districtwide enhancements to fine arts, technology, roofing, kitchen equipment and furnishings.

The bond measure is expected to increase the district’s property tax rate by 2.05 cents from $1.441 per $100 property valuation to $1.4615. The average school district homeowner with property valued at $143,079 would see a tax increase of $24.21 next year, assuming a homestead tax exemption, according to school district data. That figure does not take into account possible increases to property valuations, which increased by 14 percent this year and by nearly 14 percent last year on average in Bastrop County.

"We believe we have put together a bond proposal that will address the fast growth Bastrop ISD is experiencing and help us to capitalize on opportunities for the future," district spokeswoman Kristi Lee said. "The projects reflect fiscal responsibility by repurposing and renovating existing facilities. They also reflect the feedback we got from parents and others after the last bond election."

Many residents on social media, however, have expressed concern with rising property taxes across the board. With the approval fiscal year 2017-18 budgets, the city of Bastrop raised annual property taxes by $84 on the average homeowner, and Bastrop County’s rose by $68.

The average school district homeowner with a property valued at $142,836 may see a tax increase of $250.39 after the district approved its tax rate for the 2017-18 fiscal year due to rising property values.

"Seriously folks, you need to vote no to the bond on Nov. 7," Miguel Ochoa said on the Bastrop Advertiser’s Facebook page. "It’s getting harder and harder to stay in the district if the taxes continue to go up. Every year it seems that the county tax goes up and the school taxes go up as well. Something has to give."

Susan Porter Stahl said on the Advertiser’s Facebook page, "I wish my paychecks would go up as often as the taxes. Seriously, I don’t know how folks on fixed incomes do it."

Murray, however, says the bond would have a "relatively negligible" impact on property taxes.

"I would never want to downplay that everybody wants to watch their dollars, but this is the only way we know in the state of Texas that we are allowed to fund buildings — either renovating buildings or building new buildings — is through bond projects."

Bastrop school district Chief of Operations Jeff Yarbrough said the district is struggling to keep up with the needs demanded by growth.

"We have lots of issues that come from the growth that people don’t see but we see in operations," he said.

The district currently enrolls 10,600 students from Bastrop, Cedar Creek, Red Rock, Rockne, Paige and other rural areas of Bastrop County. Enrollment is expected to top 13,000 in the next 10 years, according to a demographic report released in May.

The last time the district approved a bond was in 2007 for $97.72 million, which funded the construction of Cedar Creek High School, Memorial Stadium and Jerry Fay Wilhelm Center for Performing Arts.

Election Day is Nov. 7. Early voting begins Oct. 23 and runs through Nov. 3.