I’ve read the article, ‘Tax Ratification Election: 101’, but I’m still concerned that a TRE would open the door for Keller ISD to tax me indefinitely from year to year. Could you further clarify what the TRE would mean to KISD tax payers?
The tax ratification election (TRE) is the only legal method that a community has to infuse more revenue into the general fund of their public school system.
The law authorizes the Board of Trustees to call for an election that can assess additional pennies on the current maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate. Keller ISD’s current rate is $1.04. The TRE would be the community’s action to ratify the Board’s decision to add the additional pennies.
As our video “Keller ISD Finance: Plain and Simple” explains, when Keller ISD property values increase the District obviously receives more funding. Unfortunately, the state has created a system that reduces state funding each year by the amount of additional funds raised from increased property values. In other words, as KISD gets more funding from its residents, the state reduces the funding it provides to the District.
A TRE could raise the M&O tax rate an additional $0.13, meaning that if the maximum is presented, the rate in KISD would be $1.17, which is 22 cents lower than the rate was five years ago. Any funds raised by this election would not be subject to that state funding formula, and therefore would stay with the district.
When the legislature last changed the method of funding schools, the new laws impacted all aspects of the tax code. For example, KISD’s tax rate went down from $1.43 to $1.04. Our M&O tax rate has been the same, $1.04, each year since that legislative action, and KISD has received the same dollars per student for the past five years.
It is true, that if passed, the maximum rate allowable in future years would be $1.17. The tax rate to fund schools is set each year by the Board of Trustees. It is annually reviewed and changes only when the Board adopts a budget that requires less or more money. Although the TRE cannot be “removed” or “withdrawn,” the Board can decide to either retain the rate set after the election, or lower the set rate. Under current law, however, it could never rise above that $1.17 maximum.
Should the legislature decide to revise the current funding of schools in the state, it would be expected that the Board would set a lower tax rate. After all, the Board of Trustees is composed of district residents that pay the same rate as all other KISD tax payers.