Klein ISD Superintendent Bret Champion will hold on to his position for an extra year, as the KISD board of trustees voted to extend his contract through January 2024. KISD trustees unanimously voted to extend the superintendent’s contract from when it was originally set to expire on Jan. 31, 2023 to Jan. 31, 2024 at the April 8 board meeting. Champion's contract was previously extended in 2017 from four to five years. “The hard work you do goes along with your contract,” Trustee Ronnie Anderson said, speaking to Champion. “We’re very pleased. Thank you.” Champion has served as superintendent of KISD since 2016. To read more about Champion, click here. Tax collections A delinquent tax report was also presented to the board by Jason Bailey, an attorney at Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott, L.L.P. KISD retains an attorney to collect delinquent taxes, penalties and interest on accounts that remain unpaid as of July 1 annually. By July 1, 2018 KISD had turned over 98.5%, or $4,103,645, of 2017 base taxes to the firm. “Your office has done a great job,” Bailey said. Of the base taxes turned over, 62% have been collected, 5% have been deferred, 1% are considered in bankruptcy, 12% are in litigation and 20% are still being processed. Deferred taxes include those deferred by the elderly and disabled. “Once they stop owning or occupying that homestead, we will get those collected,” he said. Bailey also said that the percentage of taxes is down compared to the overall taxable value, but tax collections themselves, as a dollar amount, are up. “While I like that number [65%], it’s not as good as it has been in the past,” he said. “Part of that problem is because Harris County Appraisal District is adding a bunch of value to your account … [That is] good for the district—that means more tax dollars are being collected—[but] bad for my statistics, because they keep adding more and it looks like I’m not collecting as much.”