The Keene school district trustees approved an increased tax rate at Monday’s meeting, but officials say both taxpayers and the district will pay less in the long run.
The school board approved an $8,415,428 budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year that is $621,260 more than last year.
Superintendent Kevin Sellers said the increase is mainly because of stimulus money given to pay the increased salaries mandated by the Texas legislature this year.
“The money that we receive from the state, the stimulus money, is not guaranteed until after 2011,” Sellers said. “The state isn’t saying whether they are going to sustain those salary increases, so districts are having to plan ahead to figure out how they’re going to sustain that increase in their budget after the federal stimulus money goes away.”
The district has a tax rate of $1.04 per $100 of assessed property value for maintenance and operations and 38 cents for debt service, a total of $1.42.
With the increase in property values, the board realized it didn’t need the entire debt service rate to pay the debt for this year and will decrease the rate by 4 cents, Sellers said.
With the adoption of a school tax rate of $1.51 at Monday’s meeting, which includes an addition of 13 cents to maintenance and operations, Sellers said the financial fate of the district is left to the voters.
The 13 cent increase requires a tax ratification election, or rollback election, which the board ordered for Nov. 3.
“If the voters approve that $1.51 tax rate, then the board will come back an lower the debt service by 13 cents to make our debt rate 21 cents, therefore lowering the tax rate to $1.38,” he said. “As you raise your maintenance and operations, basically you’re maximizing your state funding, so the more local effort that you give, the more state revenue you receive. It doesn’t raise the total tax rate for the citizens, but it generates $776,000 of additional revenue for the school district every year.”
Sellers said the extra revenue will help the district sustain itself in two years when the stimulus money runs dry.
“From that additional revenue, we can pay our debt payment and still leave the district with a net increase of $436,000 for our fund balance that we can use for salaries and things of that nature,” he said.
“What I want the voters to understand is that your tax rate can be $1.38, and we can increase the state revenue by $776,000, or your tax rate can be $1.38, and we leave $776,000 sitting on a table in Austin,” he said.
Keene ISD grew by 78 students as of Tuesday, and although Sellers does not have the district’s daily average attendance yet, the additional students will increase the district’s state funding.
The district is beginning construction projects to accommodate the influx of new students.
“We had to wait until this past summer for the legislature to roll forward the existing debt allotment, so we’ve started construction Monday for additions and renovations to the existing junior high, which will positively affect the high school also,” Sellers said.
In other board actions, the Keene trustees approved a joint election agreement with the city to be Nov 3. Sellers said four school board positions are up for grabs, with Vice President Sheri Hadley and members Lanette Moline and Mary Ann Hodges running for their seats again. Geri Montgomery was appointed to Frank Evans’ seat after his resignation but is required to run in the election next month.
Education
Keene ISD trustees approve tax rate, budget
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