Key facts
In short
A growing loan has no payments for many years. The amount owed keeps getting bigger until the end. In 2014, Leander had more of these than any other Texas school district. It still had the most every year from 2016 to 2025 (see debt vs peers). About 42 million dollars of this year’s interest was on growing loans.1 Most of that was not new interest. It was money buyers paid up front.1
Why it matters to your tax bill: growing loans make the debt tax last longer and cost more in total.
Related: debt · refinancing · early payoffs · debt vs peers
A growing loan has no payments for many years. Instead, the amount owed keeps getting bigger. It is all paid at the end. The official name is “capital appreciation bond.”
How it works
Think of a credit card you do not pay for years. The bill keeps growing. When you finally pay, you owe much more than you spent.
Growing loans work the same way. They lower payments now. But they cost more later.
Growing loans today
Of the interest scheduled for 2025-26, about $42 million was on growing loans.12 But most of it, about $34 million (82%), is not new interest. It is extra cash buyers paid up front when these loans were sold in 2015 to 2023 (called premium). It is paid back now and counted as interest. Only about $7.4 million is interest that built up on the loans.2 See how the pile was built.
How big the pile is
In 2025, the district still owed about $536 million on growing loans. The original amount borrowed that is still unpaid was only about $27 million. That is about $20 owed for every $1 still borrowed.3 Counting interest built up so far (not the full future bill), the growing loans stood at about $394 million in June 2025.5
Which loans are left. The audit lists eight series. The last payments are due in 2044. Two of them, 2023A and 2025B, refinanced older loans.6
| Series | Built-up value, June 30, 2025 | Due |
|---|---|---|
| 2016A | $99,262,087 | 2026–2044 |
| 2016 | $88,021,719 | 2026–2030 |
| 2021B | $84,919,699 | 2026–2031 |
| 2025B (refinancing) | $21,955,298 | 2026–2029 |
| 2023A (refinancing) | $20,369,388 | 2026–2032 |
| 2020B | $7,462,983 | 2026–2030 |
| 2020C | $1,337,931 | 2026 |
| One other 2025 series | $70,920,935 | 2026–2035 |
| Total | $394,250,040 |
Source: the district’s 2025 audit (ACFR), Note 6.6
In 2014, Leander had more growing-loan debt than any other Texas school district: about $2.67 billion of the state’s $3.46 billion, or 77%.4
One big example. In 2014 the district sold one set of growing loans (Series 2014C) that raised about $189 million. If held to the end, they would have cost about $997 million, or about 5.3 times as much.7 These loans were later refinanced, so that full bill was not paid.
The state changed the rules
In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed a law (House Bill 114). Growing loans paid with taxes can now last no more than 20 years. They can be no more than 25% of a district’s debt. And the district must write down the cost before it sells them.8
The other side
Growing loans are legal, and other Texas districts used them too.4 Refinancing has also cut some of the cost (see refinancing). And the biggest figures above count interest that is not due for many years.5
Questions to ask
- When will the district report what share of its debt is in growing loans today?
- Where can the public see the payoff dates for each growing loan?
Changes to this page
- Nov. 2, 2026: We re-checked every figure. The growing-loan share of yearly interest is now credited to our own count from the bond documents, and called a scheduled amount.
- Nov. 2, 2026: Rewrote the questions to ask so each is open, neutral and addressed to the public body.
- Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
- Nov. 2, 2026: Listed the growing loans by series, with when each comes due.
- Nov. 2, 2026: We re-checked the figures. We cut an unsourced claim that growing loans kept tax rates lower.
What you can do or watch next
- Watch each year’s payments on the remaining growing loans in the budget.
What we still don’t know
- The state has not yet published 2025-26 figures, so we can’t say what share of today’s debt is still growing loans.
Footnotes
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Leander ISD, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report 2025, debt schedule, page 46. Local copy of the page. FY2026 interest scheduled: $101,215,314 total. The growing-loan part, $41,705,748, is our math from each series’ bond pricing tables (see note 3), not a figure on this page. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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Our math (not a district figure) from the bond pricing tables in each official statement: $34,317,775 premium (82.3%) and $7,387,973 built-up interest on 7 series (2015A, 2015B, 2016, 2016A, 2020C, 2021B, 2023A). ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Texas Bond Review Board, local debt outstanding, fiscal 2025 (data.texas.gov 6d42-4z7a): growing-loan principal $26,687,419; principal plus interest $536,057,631. Our math. ↩ ↩2
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Texas Bond Review Board, fiscal 2014: Leander $2,668.7 million of $3,457.8 million school-district growing-loan debt. Our math. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Leander ISD ACFR 2025, notes on long-term debt: all growing loans $394,250,040 in built-up value at June 30, 2025. ↩ ↩2
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Leander ISD ACFR 2025, Note 6, “Capital Appreciation Bonds,” p.47: accreted value and maturity dates by series (2025B $21,955,298, 2026-2029; one other 2025 series $70,920,935, 2026-2035; 2023A $20,369,388, 2026-2032; 2021B $84,919,699, 2026-2031; 2020C $1,337,931, 2026; 2020B $7,462,983, 2026-2030; 2016A $99,262,087, 2026-2044; 2016 $88,021,719, 2026-2030; total $394,250,040). Series 2025B refunded 2015B bonds (ACFR transmittal letter p.viii; Note 6 p.45). Texas Bond Review Board by-issuance data, fiscal 2025: Series 2023A and 2025B purpose “Refund”; 2023A closed Aug. 22, 2023. ↩ ↩2
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Series 2014C official statement: proceeds $189,353,162; total due at maturity $996,695,000 (2032-2049). Our math: 5.26 times. Refinanced by Series 2016A. ↩
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House Bill 114, 84th Texas Legislature (2015); Texas Education Code §45.0031. ↩