The adopted rate of $1.32075 per $100 property valuation is 0.22% lower than the rate passed last year. However, it will raise more taxes for maintenance and operations than last year’s rate, according to a document prepared for the board. Chief Financial Officer Randy McDowell said the new rate is effectively a less than 0.2% increase over the $1.32375 per $100 property valuation adopted for the 2020-21 school year.
That increase is tied directly to the continued rise of appraised property value in Plano, he said.
“We know the [housing] market has been pretty hot recently, and so that continues to drive up home prices [in Plano],” McDowell said.
With this new rate, the average homeowner in Plano will pay $5,063 in school property taxes per year, which is an increase from the average $4,894 paid last fiscal year, McDowell said.
The district’s new tax rate is also the same as its voter-approved tax rate.
The district was initially expecting to pay about $188 million into the state’s recapture system this school year, McDowell said. However, since the district’s average daily attendance numbers are below projections, he said that number could change.
“We'll have to continue to monitor that," McDowell said. "If those [attendance totals] don't increase back to the projected number, we will be paying recapture that will be greater than $188 million.”
Superintendent Sara Bonser told the board during its Aug. 9 meeting that students enrolled in the district’s temporary virtual school will not qualify for attendance funding from the state. That option is scheduled to end Sept. 10.
The district’s initial projected payment into the state’s recapture system for the 2021-22 school year was expected to be around $8 million over last year, McDowell told the board in June.
