Voters in Friendswood and Pearland will have the choice of increasing their tax rate to provide more funds to their respective school districts.

What you need to know

Early voting in Texas begins Oct. 23, meaning voters within Friendswood ISD and Pearland ISD can begin heading to the polls to vote on a pair of voter-approval tax rate elections, or VATREs, for their respective districts.

For Friendswood ISD, the district is seeking a tax rate of $1.08 per $100 valuation of a home, according to district documents. If approved, it would add about $1.2 million to the district’s budget and lessen an expected shortfall of $3.65 million in the district’s fiscal year 2023-24 budget.

Pearland ISD, meanwhile, is facing a $12.7 million shortfall and is looking at a VATRE to provide an additional $11.2 million in revenue, according to district documents.


Residents in both districts can expect a decrease in their tax bill compared to last year regardless of the outcome, according to district documents. This is due to a recent state bill, Senate Bill 2, which compressed tax rates across Texas.

There are no city council elections going for either Friendswood or Pearland.

The specifics

Early voting in Brazoria County is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a number of locations from Oct. 23-28 and Oct. 30-Nov. 3, according to the Brazoria County website.


Early voting locations in Brazoria County include:
  • Brazoria County East Annex, 1524 E. Mulberry St., Angleton
  • Alvin Library, 105 S. Gordon St., Alvin
  • Brazoria Library, 620 S. Brooks St., Brazoria
  • Freeport Library, 410 Brazosport Blvd., Freeport
  • Doris Williams Civic Center, 333 Hwy. 332 E., Lake Jackson
  • Brazoria County North Annex, 7313 Corporate Drive, Manvel
  • Tom Reid Library, 3522 Liberty Drive, Pearland
  • West Pearland Community Center, 2150 Countryplace Parkway, Pearland
  • West Pearland Library, 11801 Shadow Creek Parkway, Pearland
  • Brazoria County Precinct 4 Building No. 2, 121 N. 10th St., West Columbia
For Galveston County voters, polls are opened up the same time and days as Brazoria County, except for Nov. 2-3, which has voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting locations in Friendswood include:
  • First Baptist Friendswood, Room 56, 202 Heritage Drive
  • Village on the Park, Town Hall, 400 E. Parkwood Drive
  • The Harbor, Harbor Room 2, 2821 W. Parkwood Ave.
In Harris County, there are two voting locations near Pearland and Friendswood:
  • El Franco Lee Community Center, 9500 Hall Road, Houston
  • San Jacinto College South Campus, Jones Technical Building, 13735 Beamer Road, Houston
Voters can vote at any early voting location that is within their county of residence, according to the Vote Texas website.

Looking ahead

Election day is Nov. 7, with polls being open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the Vote Texas website.