Lowered Richardson ISD tax rate for 2021-22 school year will raise more funds for district

The Richardson ISD board of trustees adopted a slightly lower property tax rate at its Sept. 20 meeting that will generate more funds for the district than the 2020-21 rate.

The adopted rate of $1.3909 per $100 property valuation is nearly 1% lower than the rate passed last year. However, it will raise more taxes for maintenance and operations than last year’s rate, according to a document prepared for the board. Chief Financial Officer David Pate said the new rate is effectively a 2.41% increase over the $1.4047 per $100 property valuation adopted for the 2020-21 school year

That increase is tied directly to the continued rise of appraised property value in Richardson, he said.

“We are definitely not increasing the actual tax rate,” Pate said. “Based on the way state law is written, it is an effective increase in the tax rate because the tax rate that we're adopting is higher than the state mandated calculation of the no-new-revenue tax rate.”

With this new rate, the average homeowner in Richardson will pay approximately $33 in school property taxes more per year than the last fiscal year, according to a document prepared for the board.

"The ultimate net effect of this change in valuation is little over [a] $1.6 million increase in the general fund and approximately [a] $2.5 million increase on the debt service fund side," Pate said.

The adopted tax rate also includes a lower maintenance and operations rate than Pate anticipated in June.