State and Municipal Bond General Elections 2006: Voter Approval Rate Exceeds Average

The $76.1 billion in state and municipal bonds submitted on the ballot for 2006's Nov. 7 general election set a record for both the amount submitted to voters for consideration and the amount they approved. According to The Bond Buyer, voters approved $67.6 billion or 88.9 percent of the bonds up for consideration. The previous high volume mark was set in the 2002 general election when voters approved 87.3 percent of the $47.1 billion submitted for consideration.

This year's 88.9 percent approval rate exceeds the average approval rate of 83.9 percent over the past 10 general elections. Additionally, based on election records maintained by the statistics department at The Bond Buyer, in the past 30 years voters have approved a higher percentage of bond measures only twice. Table 1 provides results on all general election bond referenda from 1977 through 2006, including the total submitted and approved by voters.

Table 1. Bond Referenda General Election Totals

Year

Date

Submitted
(thousands)

Approved
(thousands)

Percent
Approved

1977

Nov. 8

$4,057,191

$2,377,301

58.6%

1978

Nov. 7

$3,976,648

$2,204,914

55.4%

1979

Nov. 6

$2,761,759

$1,950,416

70.6%

1980

Nov. 4

$2,885,930

$2,308,995

80.0%

1981

Nov. 1

$4,600,000

$2,500,000

54.3%

1982

Nov. 1

$4,540,000

$3,900,000

85.9%

1983

Nov. 8

$3,830,000

$3,450,000

90.1%

1984

Nov. 6

$4,690,000

$4,030,000

85.9%

1985

Nov. 5

$5,340,000

$4,620,000

86.5%

1986

Nov. 4

$8,770,000

$7,540,000

86.0%

1987

Nov. 3

$6,791,107

$5,477,036

80.7%

1988

Nov. 8

$15,094,163

$13,953,869

92.4%

1989

Nov. 7

$6,679,980

$5,725,408

85.7%

1990

Nov. 6

$12,333,910

$5,011,815

40.6%

1991

Nov. 5

$7,880,295

$5,531,479

70.2%

1992

Nov. 3

$11,811,084

$7,340,159

62.1%

1993

Nov. 2

$7,228,288

$5,300,024

73.3%

1994

Nov. 8

$10,455,676

$6,417,433

61.4%

1995

Nov. 7

$7,271,123

$6,147,350

84.5%

1996

Nov. 5

$16,559,938

$10,906,897

65.9%

1997

Nov. 4

$10,161,932

$5,953,867

58.6%

1998

Nov. 3

$28,039,153

$24,607,852

87.8%

1999

Nov. 2

$10,943,495

$9,000,624

82.2%

2000

Nov. 7

$24,367,324

$16,798,240

68.9%

2001

Nov. 6

$12,911,621

$10,780,557

83.5%

2002

Nov. 5

$47,064,946

$41,110,010

87.3%

2003

Nov. 4

$10,647,853

$6,471,114

60.8%

2004

Nov. 2

$28,890,422

$26,344,203

91.2%

2005

Nov. 8

$19,295,758

$16,530,493

85.7%

2006

Nov. 7

$76,028,271

$67,611,247

88.9%

Source: Statistics Department, The Bond Buyer, Nov. 13, 2006.

Voters considered a total of 643 state and municipal bond issues on election day, approving 478 of them. Table 2 provides a breakdown of referred bond measures in the general election, organized by type of jurisdiction. Special districts placed the largest number of issues on the ballot with 358, followed by cities and towns with 189. The remaining issues came from counties (77), states (16), local authorities (2) and state authorities (1).

Table 2. 2006 Bond Measures General Election Results

Proposed Bonds

Approved Bonds

Jurisdiction

Number
of Issues

Total Volume
(thousands)

Number
of Issues

Total Volume
(thousands)

Volume
Approved

States

16

$43,280,698

15

$43,276,698

99.9%

Counties

77

$5,655,787

68

$4,906,402

86.8%

Cities & Towns

189

$6,045,037

150

$4,529,262

74.9%

Special Districts

358

$20,212,399

242

$14,064,536

69.6%

State Authorities

1

$800,000

1

$800,000

100.0%

Local Authorities

2

$34,350

2

$34,350

100.0%

Total

643

$76,028,271

478

$67,611,247

88.9%

Source: Statistics Department, The Bond Buyer, Nov. 13, 2006.

Statewide Bond Measures

Five states--Arkansas, California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island--asked voters to consider 16 separate statewide bond measures. Not surprisingly, California had the largest amount, with $42.6 billion in general obligation bonds up for consideration across five separate measures. Its bond proceeds were targeted for programs that ranged from state highway and levee improvements to affordable housing development programs. California voters also considered an additional $10 billion in local municipal bond issues.

Support was favorable for nearly all of the of the statewide bond issues on the ballot, with only one measure--a $4 million bond for a state park in Rhode Island--failing to win voter approval on election day. Table 3 provides a compilation of the individual statewide bond measures on this year's ballot. Additional information on other statewide ballot issues is available at NCSL's Ballot Measures Database, which allows for queries on the results of election day votes.

Table 3. Statewide Bond Measures on 2006 General Election Ballots

State

Measure #

Bond Amount

Purpose

Arkansas

Referred question 1

$250 million

Higher education

California

Prop. 1B

$19.9 billion

Transportation

Prop. 1C

$2.85 billion

Housing development

Prop. 1D

$10.4 billion

Education facilities

Prop. 1E

$4.1 billion

Disaster preparedness and flood control

Prop. 84

$5.4 billion

Natural resource protection

New Mexico

Bond measure A

$16 million

Senior citizen facilities

Bond measure B

$118 million

Higher education

Bond measure C

$91 million

Library acquisitions

Pennsylvania

Referendum Q

$20 million

Persian Gulf War veterans

Rhode Island

Question 4

$72.8 million

Higher education

Question 5

$88.5 million

Transportation

Question 6

$11 million

Zoo

Question 7

$4 million

State park (failed)

Question 8

$3 million

Department of

Environmental Management.

Question 9

$50 million

affordable housing

Source: State Vote 2006, NCSL, November 2006.

Bond Measures by Purpose

The largest percentage of approved state and local bond issues was targeted for K-12 and higher education facilities. Voters approved 237 or 83.2 percent of the K-12 and higher education bond issues. Additionally, these issues constituted $26.4 billion or 39 percent of the approved bond volume on election day. The second largest volume of approved bond issues was for transportation. Although there were only 36 measures, they totaled $23.1 billion or 34 percent of the bonds approved. Other purposes for which bonds were approved included electric power, housing, water, sewer and flood control. Table 4 separates by purpose the bond referenda considered on election day.

Table 4. Bond Referenda by Purpose
Purpose	Number of Issues	Proposed Bond Issues (in thousands)	Number of Issues	Approved Bond Issues (in thousands)	Percent Approved
Development	4	$208,495	4	$208,495	100.0%
Education	341	$31,701,617	237	$26,375,704	83.2%
--Schools	322	$28,208,318	225	$24,048,805	85.3%
--Colleges	19	$3,493,299	12	$2,326,899	66.6%
Electric Power	1	$12,840	1	$12,840	100.0%
Environmental	1	$1,600	1	$1,600	100.0%
Health Care	1	$596,000	0	$0	0.0%
Housing	8	$3,989,700	7	$2,989,700	74.9%
--Single-Family	6	$3,974,500	5	$2,974,500	74.8%
--Other	2	$15,200	2	$15,200	100.0%
Public Facilities	177	$4,003,939	131	$2,813,179	70.3%
--Parks, Zoos & Beaches	46	$1,323,555	33	$999,955	75.6%
--Other	131	$2,680,384	98	$1,813,224	67.6%
Transportation	41	$23,304,422	36	$23,068,722	99.0%
--Streets and Highways	33	$21,826,222	30	$21,801,722	99.9%
--Other	8	$1,478,200	6	$1,267,000	85.7%
Utilities	45	$11,697,795	42	$11,645,345	99.6%
--Water and Sewer	31	$6,217,995	28	$6,165,545	99.2%
--Flood Control	9	$4,625,605	9	$4,625,605	100.0%
--Other	5	$854,195	5	$854,195	100.0%
General Purpose	24	$511,862	19	$495,662	96.8%
Source: Statistics Department, The Bond Buyer, Nov. 13, 2006.

Posted November 2006.
Email mailto:statefiscal-info@ncsl.org?subject=State and Municipal Bond General Elections 2006 for more information.
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