Growing prosperity for the clients and communities we serve.
BOND ELECTIONS WHITE PAPER
Looking for an edge in upcoming bond elections?
Every year, Texans go to the polls to decide the future of their communities – not just by electing city and county officials and school board members, but by committing together to improve infrastructure, bolster public safety and invest in their children’s education. Others build hospitals or community colleges. Some fix roads, parks and public facilities. Together they invest in tomorrow.
In 2025, more than $5 trillion was lost in 64 school districts when voters didn’t have the information they needed to vote yes. From the Rio Grande Valley to the High Plains. From the Texas Gulf Coast to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Schools went unbuilt. Teachers didn’t get raises. School boards cut critical programs they couldn’t pay for.
Streets remained unrepaired. Plans for infrastructure that could attract growth and investment lay dormant. And more than half the school districts who sought Voter-Approved Tax Ratification Elections failed, leaving money on the table instead of in teacher paychecks. It could be different. Community leaders who want their cities and schools to prosper the most define and clearly communicate the benefits of passing bonds and other ballot issues so voters will say yes.
Zachry+ has a proven record of helping leaders win.
Why Zachry+? Quite simply, we’re good at what we do.
Our history of community investment spans more than 50 years – since H.C. Zachry first founded Zachry Associates in 1970 and continuing under the current ownership of Bourdon Wooten at Zachry+.
In its earliest years, Zachry was part of a team that led Abilene to be among the first Texas cities to adopt a Hotel Occupancy Tax and later to enhance that tax to build Frontier Texas, a new concept in historic education and tourism.
We’ve been around a long time.
Over the past decade, Zachry has posted a 100 percent success rate by providing clear, memorable creative to Taylor County, the City of Abilene and the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, which led two initiatives for Abilene Independent School District.
And Zachry’s reach extends beyond West Texas. Our ability to pivot as technology and opportunity have shifted has allowed us to support clients in manufacturing, aeronautics, senior living, tourism,
non-profits and healthcare across Texas and nationally. Every client we’ve served helped us learn more about how communities prosper.
Our creative staff, which once specialized in print, film, television and radio, today employs its expertise in outdoor, digital, social media and website development to tell clients’ stories, build their visibility and ultimately enhance the economic and social environment of our communities.
We are versatile and prepared to meet our clients’ needs.
At Zachry, the leadership team that clients meet in the beginning will be the same people you work with throughout your campaign. We have the size and breadth to serve clients in markets both big and
Over the past decade, Zachry has posted a 100 percent success rate by providing clear, memorable creative...
small. And we won’t hand you off to junior staff once you’ve signed on with us. We can scale our services to match your community and your budget.
We’re big enough and we’re small enough. Seldom are we called upon to make choices that impact our communities the way important bond and local elections do.
That’s why when organizations like ours stand up a PAC to take on the value of passing a local issue - whether a school election like a bond or a VATRE or something as significant as a generational upgrade to our regional airport - we choose Zachry Associates to tell the story. We know that Zachry+ will deliver - on time, on budget, and on-point each time - and work seamlessly with local leaders in making the right messaging choices for the cause. Doug Peters, President and CEO Abilene Chamber of Commerce
What success looks like
For Zachry clients — especially cities, counties and schools — success means winning.
And winning requires clear, accurate communication with voters about complicated ballot initiatives. Nothing about the way bonds and other propositions wind up on a ballot is concise. Legalese and legislative mandates make it complicated.
We help clients simplify and clarify.
While cities and counties can advocate on their own behalf, seldom do they have the specialized staff to create effective messages and graphics for social media, outdoor, websites and other platforms. And school districts are forbidden by law to advocate for the ballot initiatives that will determine their futures. PACS and other leadership organizations must coalesce to support those critical needs — groups that have funds but not staff. We work with a representative of the PAC to make the process more efficient and to enable us to respond quickly.
Persuading voters to take money out of their pockets requires simple, straightforward explanations supported by memorable graphics.
Voters approved a street maintenance fee that generates more than $7.3 million each fiscal year to maintain and improve roads and streets. Unlike taxes, the maintenance fee is there on the water bill every month. Fees can be a tough sell because voters see what it costs them in black and white.
$7.3 MILLION ANNUALLY FOR IMPROVED STREETS –MAY 2018
That formula has netted Zachry clients a 100 percent success rate since 2018.
The Abilene Independent School District trustees chose to combine multiple critical infrastructure projects in a massive $138.7 bond election that included:
• Three new elementary schools
• A new Career and Technical Education high school serving students from across the district and encompassing the district’s STEM high school
• Upgraded athletic facilities at two high schools and three middle schools
• Renovated fine arts facilities at two high schools and two middle schools
• Improved heating and air conditioning at numerous existing facilities
$5.1 MILLION ANNUALLY FOR EXPANDED TOURISM –NOVEMBER 2023
$138.7 MILLION FOR NEW SCHOOLS — NOVEMBER 2018
This hotel tax increment was dubbed “the tax you don’t pay,” passing with 64% of the vote. The hotel occupancy tax allows the city to impose up to a 15% tax on all hotels and lodging in order to fund operating costs for the Taylor County Expo Center and Frontier Texas, and an expansion of Frontier Texas.
The local Chamber of Commerce calculates that tourism’s direct economic impact in the city is $567.7 million with 3,790 jobs supported by the tourism sector, totaling $136.4 million in direct earnings for local workers.
Outdoor
The Texas legislature mandates that any Voter-Approval Tax Ratification Election, or VATRE, be described on the ballot as a tax increase — even though in 2025 homeowners’ taxes declined with or without its passage. This created a complicated and confusing challenge for school districts and VATRE advocates statewide.
Of the 60 districts that placed a VATRE on the November 2025 ballot, exactly half failed. But in Abilene, voters supported the proposition and it passed by a margin that mirrored traffic to the website Zachry designed to inform and persuade voters. As a result, $3.7 million in local tax dollars garnered an additional $6.3 million from the state — millions that Abilene schools would not have received if residents didn’t “Vote FOR to Get More.”
Of the 60 districts that placed a VATRE on the November 2025 ballot, exactly half failed.
FAQ
Sheet
Social Media Posts for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
Outdoor
Yard Signs
Not everyone flies, which can make a bond to expand the airport of a small to midsized city a persuasive challenge. Yet, studies show that cities that invest in improved airports experience economic growth, and that benefits everyone. In this case, a $20 million bond would net the city $50 million in federal grants, which doesn’t include the millions added to the economy by those who fly here, stay here, spend here.
Despite working on a short time window, Zachry launched the Friends of ABI website that logged 385 distinct visitors. The election succeeded with a margin of 229 votes, proving that providing clear, accessible information translates to affirmative votes.
The election succeeded with a margin of 229 votes, proving that providing clear, accessible information translates to affirmative votes.
$20 MILLION BONDS FOR A BIGGER AND BETTER AIR-
