Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Detroit voters approved a $500.5 million school bond proposal for a district that considered filing for bankruptcy and elected former professional basketball player and Mayor Dave Bing to a full four-year term.

The bonds, to be paid in part with federal aid to the district, passed by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent, according to city election returns, said the Detroit Free Press. The funds will be used to build eight schools and renovate 10, the district said. School district officials said earlier this year they were contemplating seeking bankruptcy protection to cut costs after seven years of budget deficits.

Bing, 65, defeated Tom Barrow, 60, by a margin of 58 percent to 42 percent, according to the Associated Press. The four-year term will begin in January.

Bing, a businessman who played professional basketball with the Detroit Pistons and other teams for 12 years, became mayor in May after a special election to fill ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s seat. Kilpatrick resigned after pleading guilty to lying under oath about an extramarital affair.

Detroit, the largest U.S. city with a below-investment- grade credit rating, has seen its budget deficit widen to $275 million from $155.6 million in 2007, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Battered by recession, cities across the U.S. are coping with the worst financial conditions in a generation.

Detroit’s schools also face financial pressure after residents fled the city and tax revenue fell. The district, which has about $1.6 billion of debt, has considered filing for bankruptcy, according to Robert Bobb, the schools’ emergency financial manager appointed by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Under the bond proposal, the Detroit district hopes to take advantage of Build America Bonds and other financing under the $787 billion economic stimulus passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in February.

To contact the reporter on this story: Darrell Preston in Dallas at dpreston@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 3, 2009 22:57 EST