The board of trustees approved a tax rate of $1.2188 per $100 valuation in a 6-0 vote. The FY 2021-22 tax rate was $1.2686 per $100 valuation.
Trustee Sheri Mills was absent from the meeting.
“We continue to excel,” Superintendent Lane Ledbetter said. “The things that we do financially are important within challenging times. We’re excited about where we are as a district.”
The tax rate is broken down into two parts. The maintenance and operations tax rate is $0.8888 per $100 valuation, and the interest and sinking tax rate, which covers debt payments on capital projects, is $0.33 per $100 valuation. All of the decrease in the tax rate is coming from the maintenance and operations rate, according to CISD.
The property taxes paid on a home valued at $800,000 would be reduced this year by about 3.93% under the new tax rate. According to the district, its certified tax base increased this year by about 9.9%, meaning many homeowners will likely pay more in school property taxes even though the rate was lowered.
The average value of a single-family home in Southlake is $829,807, according to a July report from the Tarrant Appraisal District.
Assistant Superintendent for Financial Services David Johnson gave a presentation on the district's tax rate during the meeting. Of school districts in Tarrant County, CISD had the third-lowest tax rate in fiscal year 2021-22, according to the presentation. CISD follows behind Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD’s tax rate of $1.1608 per $100 valuation and Azle ISD’s tax rate of $1.2226 per $100 valuation.
As part of its tax rate, the district also adopted six enrichment pennies, one of which is a disaster penny available due to Winter Storm Uri. These extra pennies provide tax revenue to a district and are not subject to recapture payments. Recapture payments redistribute money from property-wealthy districts in Texas to property-poor districts.
CISD’s recapture payment for FY 2022-23 is about $33.7 million.
