What you need to know
The approved tax rate of $0.8931 per $100 of valuation for the 2024-25 fiscal year, is $0.0259 lower than the previous fiscal year’s rate of $0.9190 per $100 of valuation.
District documents show that the lowered tax rate may result in a $19.79 savings for the tax bill of a home with a value of $383,201, the average taxable value for homes within the district.
How we got here
District administrators, prior to passing the tax rate Sept. 19, discussed how far they might be able to lower the tax rate and still manage to pay as much bond debt as they are asking constituents to approve.
Per district documents, the approved tax rate includes a 1.5-cent decrease to the debt service rate, as well as a decrease of just over one cent to the maintenance and operations rate.
The lower rate approved by the district comes as the Texas Education Agency has provided a finalized maximum compression rate, RRISD’s Chief Financial Officer Dennis Covington said Sept. 19. The MCR is the lowest threshold that a school district can set a maintenance and operations tax rate, and is based on the total property value of the district.
Did you know?
As RRISD has a July 1 start to its fiscal year, the district is provided an estimated MCR by the TEA with which to build its budget earlier in the year, while it waits for property values to be finalized and certified. This number can be higher or lower than the finalized version, depending on whether property values increase or decrease, Covington said. The TEA was originally estimating that property values would increase more than they did, he said, and provided an initial estimated MCR of $0.6100. However, the district's property values increased by about 2%, meaning the maximum compressed rate was slightly increased.
This year’s final MCR is $0.6301, with an additional eight pennies approved by voters last fall, bringing the total M&O rate to $0.7101 per $100 of valuation.
What’s next?
With the ratified tax rate, Round Rock ISD voters will now be asked to consider a bond package totaling just under $1 billion across four propositions that will be funded through the levied debt service rate:
- Proposition A: general improvements, $798.30 million
- Proposition B: technology improvements, $125.3 million
- Proposition C: fine arts, $8.62 million
- Proposition D: athletics, $65.91 million
