This total rate is made up of a $0.8546 maintenance and operations, or M&O, rate, and a $0.208 interest and sinking, or I&S, rate that goes toward debt service. These combined rates will fund the district's budget as well as cover its debt payments.
The measure passed 5-2, with Place 2 and 7 Trustees Mary Bone and Danielle Weston representing the "no" votes. While Bone did not provide a reason for her vote, Weston stated from the dais that she could not vote for an effective increase in taxes paid by property owners in the district without having conducted an efficiency audit.
"I cannot in good conscience vote to increase taxes on property owners who are facing record inflation, economic recession and explosive property appraisals for the last few years," Weston said.
RRISD Chief Financial Officer Dennis Covington addressed Weston's concerns ahead of the vote, clarifying that his department sat down with each of the district's departments to ensure all funds were being used appropriately in the process of creating the budget.
"We did eliminate almost $5 million of expenditures," Covington said. "I don't know what the audit would do. I've never seen an audit do that. I think my staff and I did the work of going through every line item in the budget and can assure this board that the dollars we have in this budget year are an efficient use of those dollars."
While the adopted rate is $0.071, or 6.26%, lower than the rate of $1.1336 ratified for fiscal year 2021-22, it will result in a 3.1% higher tax bill than the rate approved for the previous fiscal year as taxable property value in RRISD has increased by 8.8%, according to district documents.
The board approved a budget in June based on the assumption of a 13% increase in taxable value, according to the district, as certified values from the Williamson and Travis central appraisal districts were not yet available. However, the higher values did not impact the maximum compressed rate, a base M&O rate set by the state. This rate for FY 2022-23 is $0.8046 with the district adding $0.05 in golden pennies.
Revenue generated by golden pennies in a district's tax rate are not subject to recapture, or "Robin Hood" payments, of which RRISD is expected to make over $70 million to the state for FY 2022-23. Covington said these golden pennies will generate close to $25 million that the district gets to keep over the 2022-23 budget year.
Taxpayers with a home value of $440,000 can expect to see their annual tax bill due to the district increase by $141 in 2023 under the adopted rate, district documents show. A table with additional values is available here.
