San Marcos CISD adopts reduced tax rate for fiscal year 2026-27

The San Marcos CISD Board of Trustees adopted a new tax rate for fiscal year 2026-27. The new rate is lower than the previous year’s rate, reducing the amount taxpayers will owe each month.

The whole story

The board adopted a tax rate of $0.8902 per $100 of taxable value during a Sept. 21 meeting, reducing the overall rate by 12.5 cents from the fiscal year 2025-26 rate of $1.0152 per $100 of taxable value.

The yearly taxes owed for a property with a taxable value of $250,000 will be reduced by approximately $312.50 if the taxable value remains the same as in FY 2025-26, said SMCISD Board Member Juan Miguel Arredondo in a statement.

“I talk to families every day who are struggling to make ends meet,” Arredondo said in the statement. “Groceries cost more. Housing costs more. Insurance costs more. For many of our neighbors, every dollar matters. $312 may not sound life-changing to everyone, but for a family trying to stretch every paycheck, it matters.”

The details

The total tax rate is composed of the Maintenance and Operations, or M&O, rate and the Interest and Sinking, or I&S, rate. 

The M&O rate collects dollars that fund day-to-day district operations, including staffing and programs, and is determined under the state's school-finance compression requirements, according to agenda documents. 

The I&S rate collects dollars that fund the district’s debt service. A large portion of the tax reduction came from the decrease in the I&S rate.

“For more than 11 years on this board, I’ve believed we can support strong public schools while also respecting the taxpayers who make that work possible,” Arredondo said in his statement. “Tonight, we did both. Meaningful tax relief for our neighbors while continuing to invest in our Rattler family.”