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Two dozen school districts pass tax increases
The good folks at TexasISD.com have done great work this morning to collect the results of elections in school districts where voters were asked to increase the tax rate to pay for school operations.
By their count, 26 of 41 school districts — 63 percent — have approved the tax increases. Most of those elections were held Tuesday, and there’s one more coming up in Crosby ISD in December.
Here in Travis County, voters rejected the proposed 2-cent tax increase.
A shrinking number of school districts have been approving these elections, but the bleeding seems to have stopped. According to TexasISD, 93 percent of these elections passed in 2006, 78 percent in 2007 and 60 percent in 2008
Why are all these elections necessary? In 2006, the Legislature put a cap on the tax rates that school boards can set. If they want to raise more money than that, they need voter approval. And the more voters approve, the more state funding a school district gets.
Districts that got rejected at the polls will now face some very tough choices. Consider this account from the El Paso Times regarding the Canutillo school district near El Paso: “Because the proposal failed, the district will have hiring freezes, an increase in class sizes, and a freeze on pay raises to eliminate the $1 million deficit and recover $4.5 million in a $9 million rainy-day fund, Tidwell said. With the $1.9 million revenue the Canutillo school district would have received if the proposal on the ballot had passed, officials were looking to increase salaries of 900 employees, which required $500,000. Other expenses Canutillo was looking to fund with the tax increase included building upgrades to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
Voters in Canutillo rejected the proposed tax increase 308-276.
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Comments
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By Ron
November 4, 2009 1:21 PM | Link to this
All school disgricts should have long term planning that accounts for increased payroll costs as well as maintenance.
I guess what Texas needs to consider is when new developement occurs in an area, planning for the increase and need for new schools makes planning hard.
Texas should assess new development/homes for things such as roads, schools, and utilities, since after all they are gonig to be the receipiant of the need for increased services. The existing population shouldn’t be burdened with the expansion. It raises the cost of a project/home, however burden needs to be placed where demand occurs.