The lower rate was unanimously approved by the board of trustees during an Aug. 20 work session.
What you need to know
PISD officials recommended adopting the voter-approval tax rate, which was $1.04245 per $100 of assessed value, according to a staff presentation. The voter-approval rate is a tax rate that is the maximum a taxing entity can adopt without triggering a Voter-Approval Tax-Rate Ratification Election, and results in a maximum 3.5% increase in revenues from property taxes year-over-year, as prescribed by state law.
The adopted rate for PISD is divided into two components: maintenance and operations, which covers day-to-day expenses, and the interest and sinking, which is used to repay debt issued by the school district.
The maintenance and operations component for 2024-25 is $0.80510 and the interest and sinking rate is $0.23735 per $100 of assessed value. Based on the presentation, the over 3-cent reduction in the tax rate came from a reduction in the maintenance and operations component.
Quote of note
“The actual tax rate is going down for every taxpayer,” Board President Nancy Humphrey said. “We’re compared to a no-new-revenue tax rate and we haven’t seen any growth in our funding since 2019.”
What else?
Because PISD collects more than its state entitlement in property taxes, it is subject to recapture, which results in property tax revenues leaving the district.
Johnny Hill, deputy superintendent for business and operations, said the projections for recapture by the state for the 2024-25 fiscal year are around $193.4 million, or 34% of the district’s nearly $576.5 million in property tax revenues. PISD’s totals is one of the highest in the state, he added.
