Clear Creek ISD’s board of trustees at its Sept. 23 meeting voted to lower the district's total tax rate for the sixth year in a row.

However, due to increased appraisals of properties in the area, the cut could still result in the average resident seeing an increase in the district’s portion on their annual property tax bill.

What you need to know

The new total tax rate for CCISD is $0.9690 per $100 valuation of a home, which is lower than last year’s tax rate of $0.9746. The 2023-24 tax rate came after a voter-approval tax rate election in November.

The new rate represents the highest tax rate the district can approve without triggering a new VATRE, CCISD Chief Financial Officer Alice Benzaia said at the meeting.

For residents, the average property in the district, which has a taxable value of $257,396—up from last year’s $240,998—could see an increase of $145.40 in the district’s portion of their property tax bill, documents show.

That total comes from a tax rate of $0.6990 in the district’s maintenance and operation tax rate, or M&O, and $0.27 in the district’s debt service fund, or I&S.The M&O rate funds daily operations at the district, such as payroll, supplies and programming. The I&S goes toward paying off debt, such as from bonds.

The total taxable property value within the district is around $33.9 billion, which is a 3.7% increase compared to initial values given in 2023, according to district documents. Certified values sit at around $31.1 billion, with the remainder either under protest or not on the tax rolls.

What else?

In the Greater Houston area, a presentation from the district on Sept. 23 showed they had a lower rate than all but one district, which was Houston ISD.The tax rate approval came roughly a month after the board approved the district’s budget for fiscal year 2024-25 at its Aug. 26 meeting.

What they said

Trustee Scott Bowen said at the meeting the district doesn’t have much control over what the tax rate can be, particularly the M&O rate. He noted if the district adopts a rate below what it’s set at, it loses state funding in addition to lost revenue.

He added that since property valuations didn’t go up by as much as previous years, the tax rate didn’t go down near as much as well.

“It doesn’t seem like much of a cut compared to last year, but we essentially have a formula forced on us that results in a 2.5% increase in collections every single year,” Bowen said.

Board president Arturo Sanchez said if the state in the upcoming 2025 legislative session opts to approve additional funding for public schools, the district may be able to lower the rate further.