Marble Falls school trustees approve keeping same tax rate
FROM STAFF REPORTS
MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls Independent School District stuck to its promise from last spring that if voters approved a $6.5 million bond package, it wouldn’t trigger a jump in the tax rate.
On Aug. 28, the MFISD board of trustees approved a total ad valorem tax rate of $1.28 per $100 property valuation for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. It’s the same rate as the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
“We promised the voters that the bond wouldn’t impact the tax rate and we had to keep that promise,” said MFISD superintendent Rob O’Connor.
The new rate remained identical to the previous one, right down to the break down between maintenance and operation ($1.0533) and interest and sinking (22.67 cents).
The board also approved the 2014-2015 fiscal year budget. The budget brings in $37.2 million with expenditures of $37.2 million – making it a balanced document.
The new budget marks an increase of $700,000 over the previous budget.
The district did mark about a $1 million increase under the “instruction” expenditures which includes salaries. But MFISD will see its Chapter 41 payment (often referred to as Robin Hood payment) drop from $3.6 million last year to $2.7 million this fiscal year. As a Chapter 41 school district, Marble Falls ISD is considered “property rich” and must send some locally-generated tax revenues to the state for distribution to “property-poor” districts.
O’Connor pointed out that had the district raised it’s tax rate this year, the state would have tagged a big portion of the new funding for recapture under the Chapter 41 designation.
Though the tax rate remained the same, a homeowner’s school property tax bill may or may not stay the same depending on if the property value increased, decreased or remained the same.
Go to mfisd.ss3.sharpschool.com for a breakdown of the budget.
editor@thepicayune.com
