The Keller ISD board of trustees voted unanimously to keep the tax rate steady for fiscal year 2026-27 at their Sept. 24 meeting.
The gist
While the district’s total tax rate has fallen by 19% since FY 2021-22, the rate has remained $1.0852 per $100 of taxable property value since FY 2023-24.
During her presentation recommending that the district keeps the tax rate the same as the previous fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Pam Stranathan said the maintenance and operations budget amount would remain at $0.7552 and the interest and sinking amount would also remain the same at $0.3300.
According to the Texas Education Agency, public school taxes involve two figures, which divide school district budgets into two buckets. The first bucket is the maintenance and operations budget, which funds daily costs and recurring or consumable expenditures, such as:
The second bucket is the interest and sinking budget, also known as debt service, which is used to repay debt for longer-term capital improvements. This can include building new schools, which is approved by voters through bond elections.
A closer look
While Stranathan emphasized that I&S funds cannot be used as M&O for salaries or for routine operating costs, M&O funds are often broken down into two main parts: Tier 1 and Tier 2.
According to the Texas State Teachers Association, Tier 1, often called the Maximum Compressed Rate, acts as the foundational bucket and is based on student attendance. Once you move past that baseline, Tier 2 comes into play, which is the enrichment layer where districts tap into extra tax “pennies.” These pennies are categorized as either golden or copper, and each one represents a single cent per $100 of property value.
Golden pennies represent revenue school districts can generate without any state recapture, the Robin Hood system that pulls excess cash away from wealthier districts. Copper pennies are subject to recapture, meaning any revenue generated above state-set formulas can get taken from the district and redistributed by the state.
For Keller ISD, Stranathan said the current $0.7552 M&O rate can be broken down as follows:
Also of note
Superintendent Cory Wilson said property values have decreased in the district year over year by approximately $2 billion, from $23 billion to $21 billion. Place 7 Trustee Heather Washington said she gets asked why the district doesn’t simply raise taxes to get more money. Stranathan said if the district raised more money, it would most likely be recaptured by the state.
