The SISD board of trustees unanimously voted to adopt a tax rate of $1.3843 per $100 valuation for FY 2020-21—a decrease of about $0.0457 from the FY 2019-20 tax rate of $1.43 per $100 valuation. According to SISD Chief Financial Officer Ann Westbrooks, although the newly adopted tax rate is an overall decrease from the previous fiscal year's tax rate, it does exceed the no-new-revenue tax rate, meaning it is effectively an increase of 4.32%.
The new tax rate is based on the district's estimated taxable value of nearly $15.5 billion, and the total tax rate is broken down into $0.9343 for maintenance and operations, which supports the general fund, and $0.45 for interest and sinking, which supports the debt service budget.
Based on the district's FY 2019-20 median home value of $131,122, the average SISD homeowner will pay about $1,815.12 in school district taxes in FY 2020-21 compared to $1,875.04 in school district taxes paid in FY 2019-20—an annual savings of nearly $60. However, this does not account for rising property values. Over the past five years, the median home value in SISD has increased each year from $104,441 in FY 2016-17 to $131,122 in FY 2019-20—a 25.55% increase.
This is the second consecutive year SISD has lowered the tax rate since the district's tax rate peaked at $1.51 per $100 valuation in FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19.
