North Richland Hills voters approved three of four bond propositions on the Nov. 3 ballot, clearing the way for an estimated $135.43 million in improvements to fire stations, city streets and a city services facility, while narrowly rejecting a plan to expand the public library’s community room. The results remain unofficial until the City Council formally canvasses them.
Proposition A, which would put $26.3 million toward rebuilding Fire Stations 2 and 3, passed with 55.8% of the vote to 44.2% against, according to unofficial results posted by North Richland Hills. The city says the funding is meant to address the stations’ age, layout, modern operational standards, and firefighter health and safety needs. Proposition B, the largest of the four measures at $84.26 million for street reconstruction, passed more comfortably, 58.44% to 41.56%, and will fund the reconstruction of 50 streets identified as having low pavement condition ratings in a citywide assessment.
Proposition C, covering a rebuild of the City Services Complex, also passed, with 52.43% in favor to 47.57% opposed. The city’s bond-election materials list the measure’s cost at $24.7 million, while Fort Worth Report put the figure at $24.87 million; the discrepancy between the two figures was not resolved in available records. The measure is intended to support parks, water, sewer, street and fleet operations, addressing operational standards and safety needs while providing storage and protection for city equipment.
Library Expansion Falls Just Short
Proposition D was the only measure to fail, with 48.94% in favor and 51.06% opposed — a margin of roughly 600 votes out of nearly 28,000 cast. The $10.71 million proposal would have expanded the library’s community room and made related improvements to accommodate larger community events, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The outcome echoes a pattern from more than two decades ago: North Richland Hills voters have historically approved every bond proposition on the ballot except one, in 2003, when they rejected a proposal to expand what is now the City Services Complex, per the Fort Worth Report’s reporting. This year, voters approved improvements to that same complex while again turning down a different facility expansion — this time at the library.
City Council Set to Canvass Results Nov. 17
The results are unofficial until the City Council canvasses them, which North Richland Hills says is scheduled for a special meeting at 2 p.m. on Nov. 17. Until then, the vote totals reported by the city carry the unofficial label attached to all election-night results.
Assuming the propositions hold up through canvassing, the city says bond projects tied to the approved measures would be completed in phases over a decade, with bonds issued between fiscal years 2028 and 2037. The city has estimated that the debt-service portion of the property tax rate will increase by 2.5 cents as a result of the new bonds, though that figure is an estimate rather than a final number.
How the 2026 Package Took Shape
The ballot measures followed a year of groundwork by a 31-member resident advisory committee, which held 15 public meetings in 2025 reviewing street pavement data, touring city facilities and weighing potential projects and costs, the Star-Telegram reported. That review process helped shape the scope and price tags attached to each of the four propositions before they went to voters.
The city has pointed to its 2020 street-bond program as a point of comparison for how the newly approved funding might play out. Voters that year approved $49 million in bonds to reconstruct 27 streets over five to seven years, and the city reports that program came in on time and within budget, with 24 of the 27 projects completed. Proposition B’s $84.26 million commitment for 50 streets represents a substantially larger undertaking than that earlier program.
