If approved, the tax rate increase is expected to generate around $26.91 million in new revenue for the district, which would result in a projected surplus of more than $11 million.
With the additional funding, district officials plan to earmark funds to support costs associated with instruction, district operations, general administration and other services. DISD would also likely pay about $3.5 million to the state in the form of recapture payments.
“When you take away the deficit that we currently have with the new money, that would leave us in this current year and future years with $11.6 million and change going forward,” DISD Deputy Superintendent Jeremy Thompson said.
The overview
District officials said rising costs to insurance premiums and building utilities have impacted the district’s budget by over $32 million in FY 2025-26. The district received additional funding from the state to help cover compensation for certain teachers, however, it did not receive federal reimbursements for certain health services, which had an impact of between $5 million and $7 million on the budget, DISD Superintendent Susannah O’Bara said.
The proposed tax rate increase is 5 cents higher than the voter-approval rate of $1.1569 per $100 of assessed value, which is the highest the district can set a tax rate without a tax rate election. This will be the district’s tax rate should voters not approve the higher rate of $1.2069 per $100 of assessed value.
Despite a higher proposed tax rate, the property tax due on a home with the average appraised value in DISD, $297,989, would pay $192.35 less in property taxes compared to the previous tax year, officials said. The tax bill calculation is based on an assumption that voters will approve a proposal to raise the homestead exemption by $40,000 that would reduce the taxable value of homes within DISD and the passage of the 5-cent increase.
Under state law, school districts can only call for a voter-approval tax rate election in November, Thompson said.
The impact
O’Bara said DISD will spend more to make its starting teacher salaries more competitive with peer districts.
Funds will also be spent on enhancing safety and security at campuses and bolstering student programs and enrichment, she said.
DISD trustees called for the voter-approval tax rate election at the Aug. 12 meeting, following a June recommendation from the 1925 Advisory Committee. The committee was formed in 2024 and is made up of parents, students and teachers to provide input and guidance as district officials planned the 2025-26 budget.
“What was very important to us as we worked with our 1925 committee was to hit the tipping points that would help us balance back out, contribute to our fund balance, take care of what we need and not overburden [taxpayers] unnecessarily,” O’Bara said.
Additionally, DISD staff have changed how they approach each budget cycle, shifting to a zero-base budget method, which requires all departments to start at $0 for expenses and justifying all increases, compared to making adjustments based on the previous budget. The district has also used its fund balance to cover past shortfalls, which has resulted in less than three months of operating expenses in the current fund balance.
With approval of the higher tax rate and state funding through House Bill 2, district officials project the ability to increase the fund balance to a little more than $71.1 million, which would cover more than one-and-a-half months of operating expenses.
Zooming out
Because of funding challenges, the district has consolidated positions through attrition, despite opening new facilities and experiencing enrollment growth.
O’Bara said DISD consolidated 104.5 full-time equivalent positions in 2024-25 and a further 144.5 full-time equivalent positions in 2025-26. Calculations by district officials estimate the two consolidations saved a little over $13 million.
For the 2024-25 cuts, district officials aimed to preserve as many classroom positions as possible, but the 2025-26 reductions included some classroom positions and program cuts, O’Bara added.
“When you absorb positions, you start reducing programs and support and enrichment opportunities for students,” she said. “We don't offer Latin anymore because the enrollment in Latin was low.”
As a result, the district is utilizing larger class sizes, which requires filing a class size waiver application with the Texas Education Agency if a kindergarten through fourth grade class has more than a 22-students-to-1-teacher ratio. O’Bara said that two years ago, the district had 33 such waivers on file with the TEA, but that number has grown to 74 in the 2025-26 school year to date.
District officials said middle and high school class size ratios, which do not require waivers, sit between 28- to 30-1 and 34-1, respectively.
What they’re saying
Several Denton ISD residents have spoken in favor of the voter-approval tax rate election both at board meetings and at an information session Sept. 24.
Rebecca Bertoni expressed concern about the cuts to various programs and higher class sizes. She added further concerns about DISD’s fund balance, which could impact the district’s bond rating.
“I recommend that we all vote for Proposition A, a self-imposed tax on homeowners in the Denton ISD to keep our schools strong,” Bertoni said at the Sept. 23 board meeting.
Greg Petolick, who said his wife is a teacher in the district, voiced his support for the tax rate during a Sept. 24 information session.
“It's interesting to hear that we're at the bottom of the tax rate, teacher starting salary [and] tier two tax rate in Denton County,” Petolick said. “It's time that we start becoming competitive with the other areas that we compete with.”
What’s next
Early voting for the Nov. 4 election starts Oct. 20 and runs through Oct. 31, and polling location's can be found on the Denton County website. District officials are planning to hold two more information sessions on the tax rate proposition Oct. 7 and Oct. 15, per the district’s website.
A failure to pass the higher tax rate will likely result in further expenditure cuts, Thompson said. District officials also project a need to reduce staff by another 250 positions to balance the budget.
“We’re taxpayers too,” Thompson said. “We're very cognizant of the fact that this is an impact to each one of our citizens who are taxpayers.”
