Frequently Asked Questions

  • School districts are required by state law to ask voters for permission to sell bonds to investors in order to raise the capital dollars required to renovate existing buildings or build a new school. Essentially, it’s permission to take out a loan to build, renovate and pay that loan back over an extended period of time, much like a family takes out a mortgage loan for their home. A school board calls a bond election so voters can decide whether or not they want to pay for proposed facility projects.

Taxes

  • A school district’s tax rate is comprised of two components: the Maintenance & Operations tax (M&O) and the Interest & Sinking tax (I&S). The M&O rate is used to operate the school district including salaries, utilities, furniture, supplies, food, gas, etc. The I&S rate is used to pay off school construction bonds. Bond sales only affect the I&S rate.

  • If the voters approve the bond, there will be a $0.01 I&S tax impact. For the average home taxable value of $170,653, that would be an impact of $1.42 a month.

  • Residents 65 and over are eligible for an “over 65” exemption. If you have applied for and received the age 65 and older exemption on your homestead, by law, your school taxes cannot be raised above their frozen level. The amount of taxes you pay is determined by the tax amount at the time your taxes were frozen.

    The tax ceiling is the amount you pay in the year that you qualified for the age 65+ or disabled person exemption. The school district taxes on your residence homestead may go below but not above the ceiling amount. 

    You must apply for this exemption.

  • The Texas legislature passed laws in 2019 requiring all school bond elections to include the following language on the ballot: “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.” The state mandates all bond ballots to include this language regardless of what individual exemptions each voter may have. The passage or failure of this bond will not impact your school district tax amount if you have an approved homestead exemption.

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