McKinney pushes airport expansion after voters reject bond plans twice
McKinney voters rejected airport bonds twice, yet the city kept the project moving with a legal tool critics say sidesteps the ballot box.
McKinney leaders pushed the airport expansion forward even after voters turned down airport bonds in 2015 and again in 2023, setting up a fight over whether city officials had found a lawful way around the electorate. The clash now reaches beyond McKinney National Airport into Collin County and Travis County, where opponents have challenged the debt strategy and city officials have asked a judge to validate it.
The city council approved about $58 million in airport construction contracts on May 6, 2025, in a 4-2 vote, despite the fact that voters had already rejected a $50 million airport-expansion bond in 2015 and a $200 million airport bond in 2023. City staff estimated the overall expansion at about $72 million in January 2025, and the project later grew to about $79 million for a 46,000-square-foot terminal planned with four gates and room to expand to six.
McKinney has said it is not relying on property-tax-backed debt this time. Instead, the city has pointed to sales-tax revenue, airport operating revenue, airport-area Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone money, city utility and construction funds, and outside grants and loans. Mayor George Fuller has said the city was trying to reduce risk by combining dual-use improvements with other funding sources rather than depending on the same financing voters rejected.
The legal fight intensified in 2026. The North Texas Conservation Association filed suit in Collin County challenging the legality of the airport bonds, while McKinney and the McKinney Economic Development Corporation filed a bond-validation case in Travis County on April 24, 2026, under Chapter 1205 of the Texas Government Code. That law, also called the Texas Expedited Declaratory Judgment Act, allows bond issuers to seek expedited validation of public securities in either their home county or Travis County, a setup critics say makes local participation harder.
The airport’s timetable has continued to move. Construction was set to start May 25, 2026, with the terminal opening in 2026 and commercial passenger service targeted for late 2026. In November 2025, McKinney National Airport received a $14.8 million Texas Department of Transportation grant for east-side infrastructure tied to commercial service, including terminal work, parking, taxiways and related utilities, while the city said it was still pursuing additional federal funding.
For many residents, the dispute is no longer just about an airport. It has become a test of local democracy, public debt and whether McKinney’s approach could give other Texas cities a path to keep major projects alive after voters say no twice.
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