Bastrop ISD adopted two separate tax rates at the school board’s Sept. 19 meeting. A $0.6692 maintenance and operations rate and a $0.401 debt service tax rate were approved, equating to an overall tax rate of $1.0702 per $100 valuation. This tax rate is a $0.185 decrease from the 2022-23 rate of $1.2552.

According to Chief Financial Officer Dina Edgar, the decrease is attributable to House Bill 3 and further tax compression with Senate Bill 2.

“Looking at our tax rate history over the past 10 years, you can see that we've been relatively consistent for the five years leading up to 2018," Edgar said. "Beginning in 2019, we will have lowered the tax rate by 37 cents over the past five years.”

The budget

The district adopted a $122.4 million maintenance and operations budget to pay employee salaries, contracted services, utilities and other operating costs at a June 20 school board meeting. A $30.8 million budget was set for debt service, covering new construction, renovations, technology and security expenses.