Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar said Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival that Texas is in the midst of a short-term economic downturn in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, but he does not expect that to affect the state's overall revenue.
Speaking at an afternoon session with moderator and Texas Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey, Hegar spoke about the hundreds of thousands of vehicles that were destroyed in the Harvey wreckage—approximately $5 billion in value. The state is likely, however, to see an upswing in sales tax revenue when those car owners buy replacement vehicles, he said.
"We don't see that [Harvey is] really going to impact the budget revenues at all," he said.
School district students and staff
Hegar said the state will grapple with school districts that suffered total losses of property in the hurricane, such as Aransas County ISD.
The district has closed indefinitely, and the students have moved to new schools elsewhere in the state.
He said without the students, the district will lack funding—its tax base having largely moved away. However, that could mean having to terminate all staff members at the district.
"We don't want that to happen," he said.
School finance
The state's school finance system, commonly known as "Robin Hood," takes revenue generated in so-called property-wealthy school districts like Austin ISD and redistributes it to property-poor districts like Del Valle ISD.
Houston ISD is categorized as a property-wealthy district by the state. A member of the audience asked the comptroller whether the economic toll Harvey took on Houston will mean Austin ISD and other property-wealthy districts will shoulder more of the revenue load in Texas.
Hegar said the state would make up that share and not shift it onto the districts.
