By Asia Armour | 10:10 PM Nov 8, 2022 CST
Updated 9:13 AM Nov 9, 2022 CST
Katy ISD urged voters to retain the tax rate in the voter approval tax rate election on Nov. 8. Voters have spoken, and early results show more ballots in opposition of sustaining the tax rate. (Courtesy Adobe Stock)
Updated 8:45 a.m. Nov. 9:
Unofficial results from all three counties show most ballots were cast in opposition of Katy ISD’s proposition to sustain the maintenance and operations tax rate at $0.96 per $100 assessed property value, which would have bumped teacher and staff salaries by 4%.
Instead, a combined 54.4% of voters in Fort Bend, Harris and Waller counties voted to reduce the maintenance and operations tax rate to $0.91 per $100 assessed property value, in line with state recommendations for the district not to collect any additional revenue than it did in the preceding year.
The overall tax rate then, which combines both the maintenance and operations tax rate and the interest and sinking tax rate that funds new schools and facilities, is compressed at $1.30 per $100 property valuation.
In Harris County, 774 of 782 polling locations are reporting as of 4:51 a.m. All 82 voting centers in Fort Bend County are reporting in as of 12:53 a.m., and 21 of 21 polling locations in Waller County are also reporting as of Nov. 8 at 10:54 p.m.
Updated 11:05 p.m. Nov. 8:
As of 11 p.m. on Nov. 8, most ballots were counted in opposition to sustaining the overall tax rate at $1.35 per $100 of assessed property value for Katy ISD in the voter-approval tax rate election, according to data from Harris County and Fort Bend County.
Harris County’s numbers remain the same at 54.31%, while 18,794 voters in Fort Bend County, or 54.99%, have voted against KISD’s proposition. Waller County data has not been posted as of press time.
If denied, the tax rate will revert to the compressed rate determined by the state to be $1.30 per $100 property valuation. The state develops a recommendation for a school district’s tax rate by adding together its maximum compressed tax rate, the district’s current debt rate and either district’s enrichment tax rate from the year prior or $0.05—whichever is greater, according to the Texas Association of School Boards.
Since KISD’s school board adopted a tax rate that exceeds the state recommendation, they were required to put the new rate to a vote by the community.
Results are unofficial until canvassed and certified by the county clerk.
Posted 10 p.m. Nov. 8:
In the Nov. 8 election to determine a voter-approval tax rate election in Katy ISD, a majority of voters in Harris and Fort Bend counties have voted against a proposition that will sustain the district’s tax rate at $1.35 per $100 of assessed property value, according to early voting data from the two counties.
In Harris County, 54.31% voters opposed the proposition, while 54.94% of Fort Bend County voters have opposed the proposition. Waller County early voting data as well as Election Day votes for all three counties are still being counted as of 10 p.m.
While the state mandates that KISD reduce the maintenance and operations portion of the district’s tax rate from $0.96 per $100 assessed property value to $0.91 per $100 assessed property value, the district is proposing the rate stays the same. If passed by voters, KISD teachers and staff would see a 4% pay raise this school year, and the district would add 10 additional police officers.
As of 9 p.m., 45.7% of Harris County voters and 45.04% of Fort Bend County voters have voted in favor of the measure, which would result in an increase of $152 per year, or $13 more per month, in taxes on a home with an average taxable value of $324,213.
When the KISD board of trustees resolved to call the election on Aug. 22 with hopes to retain the 4.7 cents from the M&O tax rate if approved by voters, it did so to receive $23.6 million in increased tax revenue, exclusively for teacher and staff salaries.
Official Katy ISD election results web site:
Katyisd.org/site/default.aspx?DomainID=4308
Houston Chronicle report …
Katy ISD’s request to sustain its current tax rate has been denied, unofficial voting results show, with voters in both Harris and Fort Bend Counties striking down the district’s request for funds to increase teacher salaries.
The tax rate election, approved by the board of trustees in September, asked voters to sustain the current tax rate of $1.35 per $100. Because the board recommended a tax rate greater than $1.30, the district opted to ask voters for permission to keep the current rate.
The tax rate would have funded a 4 percent pay raise at the midpoint for all Katy ISD employees, with 3 percent of the raise distributed across all remaining pay checks for the 2022-23 school year. It would also have funded the hiring of 10 additional police officers.
Under the new pay scale, new classroom teacher salaries would be $60,700, a jump from $57,365 in the 2021-22 hiring schedule.
Comments: 2. If the proposition is not approved by a majority of the votes cast in the election, the Board shall not adopt a tax rate for the school district for the current year that exceeds the school district’s rollback tax rate.
My questions:
Have the teachers already received the pay raises?
Will the District elect to pay the increase raises to keep good teachers?
If so, where will this money come from?
