The Eanes ISD board of trustees adopted the 2024-25 tax rate of $0.8855 per $100 valuation during a board meeting Aug. 27.

Two-minute impact

The $0.8855 rate is broken down into:

• $0.7655 for maintenance and operations
• $0.12 for payment of principal and interest on debt service

The board adopted the 2024-25 budget in June and held a tax rate hearing, but the rate was based on the estimated property values from the Travis Central Appraisal District received in April, Chief Financial Officer Chris Scott said. The district did not receive the certified values until July.

“[The values] estimated more growth in the tax base than actually happened,” Scott said. “The actual growth was quite small, which is why we see very little compression from last year. ... [The rate is] a quarter of a penny lower than last year.”

The adopted tax rate in 2023-24 was $0.888. Prior to that, the rate has been over $1 since at least 2013-14.

“We can’t control people’s appraised values, unfortunately,” trustee Heather Sheffield said. “I’ve seen in other districts as well that appraised values are still going up. So while we are doing our best to keep tax rates low, we have no control over that. ... [The rate] goes to pay for our amazing schools, but then on that note, as discussed previously, that recapture payment is painful. So of that $0.8855, we don’t get to keep all that.”