Austin ISD officials are depending on voters’ approval of a tax rate increase in order to lessen a looming budget deficit of $119 million.
What happened
The AISD board of trustees approved the measure to place a tax rate increase on the November ballot during a special meeting Aug. 19. The measure passed 8-1, with board member Kevin Foster voting no.
The overview
Foster cited that if the tax rate were to increase, more money collected by the district in property tax would go toward the state due to recapture, which is when the state takes local property tax dollars from a district to redistribute to other public school districts.
“What we’re voting to do is fill the coffers of the state to do things that don’t serve us and what we get in exchange is $0.25 on the dollar, which doesn't make a dent in our deficit and our budget shortfall," Foster said.
If approved by voters, district officials predict a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, would generate $171 million in revenue under a tax rate of $0.9505 per $100 valuation. Due to recapture, AISD will keep $41 million of this revenue. This is an increase in $130 million of recapture payments under the VATRE.
This would be a $34-per-month increase to the average homeowner and is an 8.3% increase from the current tax rate of $0.8595 per $100 valuation, according to district officials.
Education Austin President Ken Zarifis said the district and the board of trustees made the "easy decision" to approve the tax rate increase, and it's up to voters to follow through.
"We as a community must come together and say, 'We love our schools, we love our kids, and we're going to do everything we can to do that,'" Zarifis said. "This not a burden. This is an opportunity to support our children. This is an opportunity to provide them the schools that we as parents ... expect for our kids and the schools our kids deserve."
A VATRE would also give way to adjust employee pay to compare with other districts and a $0.25-per-hour increase for hourly employees. Otherwise, district employees will not see the pay increase. The district labor union, Education Austin, is in support of the VATRE passing.
Also of note
Other cost savings are under consideration, including increasing the counselor-to-student ratio and eliminating summer school.
"If approved by our voters, this spending will allow us to allocate resources to higher positions that provide direct support to the classroom with instructional coaches or content interventionists or other key areas, including mental health, all supporting our academic system, ensuring that our students get what they need from the public education system," said AISD Superintendent Matias Segura.
Additionally, four seats on the board of trustees are up for election in November.
For more information, visit www.austinisd.org.
