Current situation
SISD’s trustees unanimously voted to add the VATRE to the ballot and approved the district’s fiscal year 2024-25 total tax rate with board Secretary Kelly P. Hodges absent. The approved total FY 2024-25 tax rate is $1.1569 per $100 valuation, which is an almost $0.05 increase from the district’s FY 2023-24 tax rate.
If approved, the VATRE could generate $20.4 million in additional revenue for the district annually, while costing the average homeowner $7 more per month on a home valued at $275,977, according to an Aug. 8 presentation from SISD Chief Financial Officer Ann Westbrooks. Homeowners over age 65 or receiving a homestead exemption for a disability will not see an increase in their tax bill.
“I just would like to make the point that we would not be having to do this if the Texas Legislature were taking their responsibility, which is in the Texas Constitution, to support public education; If they did their job,” trustee Deborah Jensen said.
According to Westbrooks, should the VATRE be approved in November, the revenue will be used for:
- Reducing SISD’s almost $12 million FY 2024-25 budget shortfall to below $1 million
- 2% pay raises for all staff
- Additional pay equity adjustments for teachers with three to 24 years of experience
SISD's board of trustees passed a balanced fiscal year 2024-25 budget—including the potential VATRE funds—in a split vote June 11, as previously reported by Community Impact. SISD faced a $25 million general fund budget shortfall for FY 2024-25, which was cut down to $13 million in May.
Another viewpoint
“It's also hard to ask our taxpayers to increase taxes because the officials that we elected are not supporting the future of our students in this community,” board President Justine Durant said. “So it's a tough decision to make. It's one that I'm struggling with, but I do believe that I don’t know if ... I am comfortable sitting here going against [the VATRE] and not allowing the community to make that decision for us.”
Stay tuned
Trustees will discuss the results of a mandatory efficiency audit for the VATRE on Oct. 8, Westbrooks said. Trustees selected finance firm Whitley Penn as the auditor on June 11.
