If approved, the $0.05 per $100 valuation increase could generate $5.5 million annually in additional revenue for MISD as the district faces a nearly $4.3 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2024-25. Filling the budget gap, recruiting staff and student safety are the main priorities leaders have pegged for the VATRE funding.
“We cannot carry the [$4.3] million deficit next year,” Superintendent Mark Ruffin said during a Sept. 23 town hall. “We can’t do it. So what does that mean if we are not able to increase our local revenues? It means we have to make cuts, and 80% of our budget is people.”
The context
On Aug. 19, MISD trustees added the VATRE to the ballot and approved the FY 2024-25 total tax rate. The total tax rate—which includes the VATRE—is $1.0912 per $100 valuation, which is a 4.1% increase from the previous fiscal year.
Other Houston-area school districts are facing FY 2024-25 budget shortfalls, and a few have also responded by calling for VATREs.
On Aug. 13, Spring ISD trustees called for a $20.1 million VATRE for November as the district faces an almost $12 million shortfall, as reported by Community Impact. Meanwhile, Magnolia ISD does not face a budget shortfall, but trustees called a $7.4 million VATRE on Aug. 12 to help fund teacher raises.
Per Ruffin’s Sept. 23 presentation, if MISD’s VATRE is approved, the funds could be used to:
- Keep teacher salaries competitive
- Offer incentives for positions that are difficult to hire
- Maintain student programs such as the Dual Language Immersion Program
- Help pay for armed campus officers required under House Bill 3, which was approved June 2023 by the Texas Legislature
- Maintain student technology monitoring initiatives
“That’s not something that we’re able to do right now in a $4 million deficit,” Ivey said. “We can’t implement these strategies, and we’re just going to grow. So our ability to recruit new teachers into our district is extremely important and something we really need to prioritize.”
MISD leaders answered questions about the VATRE submitted by community members during a Sept. 23 town hall. Lujuana Haggerty—a parent of multiple MISD graduates—said she will vote in favor of the VATRE in November.
During the town hall, MISD resident Ruben Hines did not say how he’ll be voting concerning the VATRE, but did express concern that the VATRE won’t bring enough money in three to five years if the Texas Legislature doesn’t approve more public school funding.
Texas legislators have not increased the district’s basic allotment—which is $6,160 per student—since 2019, and measures to provide districts with additional funding did not materialize in the last legislative session in 2023.
“My biggest fear, if we do pass Proposition A, ... [is] they’ll cut even more despite the fact that we have Proposition A,” Hines said.
What’s next
The FY 2024-25 budget is the third consecutive fiscal year that MISD has a budget with a shortfall. Since MISD trustees passed the FY 2024-25 budget with a $4.3 million general fund gap, if the VATRE is not approved, staff cuts will not be made until the 2025-26 school year, according to Ruffin’s Sept. 23 town hall presentation.
“When you [cut employees], you start as far away from the classroom as you can, but ... some of those services that those support staff provide, if they’re not there providing that, guess where those roles and responsibilities now fall?” Ruffin said. “Our classroom teachers.”
The Texas Legislature is set to begin its 89th session Jan. 14, and more public school funding is slated to be considered, Greater Houston-area legislators said, as previously reported by Community Impact.
