The rate was approved in a 5-2 vote at a Sept. 24 board meeting, with trustees Chris Coker and Charles Randklev voting against the adopted tax rate.
The overview
Keller ISD’s board of trustees approved a tax rate of $1.0852 per $100 valuation for FY 2025-26.
The approved tax rate is the total of two pieces:
- $0.7552 for the Maintenance and Operations rate, which covers expenses like payroll and is determined by state law.
- $0.33 for Interest and Sinking rate, which pays for the district’s principal interests on its debts and is determined by district officials.
Chief Operations Officer John Allison said the district is required by the state to adopt a maintenance and operations tax rate of $0.6169, but is choosing to use 8 golden pennies and 5.83 copper pennies, which allows the district to go above the state-required rate.
Allison said golden pennies generate funds that are not subject to recapture, while copper pennies generate additional revenue that is subject to recapture.
“100% of that revenue that’s raised in Keller from the golden pennies stays in Keller,” he said. “Approximately 60% of [copper penny] revenue stays in Keller and 40% is sent back to the state.”
If the district chose not to use them, Allison said the copper pennies would need to be approved by voters again in the future.
Also of note
Trustees considered lowering the tax rate through a “no new revenue” rate instead of its current tax rate for the upcoming school year. Other nearby school districts such as Northwest ISD, Carroll ISD and Fort Worth ISD have approved tax rates lower than their previous year.
“I recognize that school finance is complicated, but it’s incredibly difficult to explain to our taxpayers why we are keeping rates higher while our neighbors are effectively lowering theirs,” Board trustee Place 5 Chris Coker said.
Allison said a no new revenue rate would lower the budget, approved June 26, by $7.9 million and lead to a budget deficit.
Keller ISD will receive a basic allotment of $6,215 per student this school year, which is a $55 increase from last year. State funding had not increased since 2019 prior to this year.
