CISD Trustees approved the 2023-2024 tax rate — the district’s lowest rate since 1993, during their board meeting on Aug. 28. The Board also approved the 2023-2024 CISD Operating Budget of $169,256,570, which is a $ 12,154,022 decrease from last fiscal year’s amended budget.
The approved Maintenance and Operations tax rate is $0.8022, which is a reduction of $0.1845 from 2022-2023. The approved Interest and Sinking (Debt Service) Tax Rate of $.2513 is an increase of $0.0207 from 2022-2023.
The total approved tax rate of $1.0535 per $100 of assessed value is $.1638 less than last year’s tax rate and the district’s lowest tax rate since 1993.
The Maintenance and Operations tax rate is used for the daily operations of the district, including employee salaries. These revenues are subject to recapture by the state for the amount in excess of the calculated funding entitlement. The district is required to tax at a certain rate to qualify for its total entitlement.
Recapture, otherwise known as Robin Hood, will make up 15% of CISD’s budget expenditures, which equates to more than $25 million to be returned to the state and going into the state’s general fund. CISD has paid $752 million in recapture since 1992.
The Interest & Sinking tax rate funds the Debt Service fund. These revenues are used to pay the principal and interest on voter-approved bond issues and are not subject to recapture.
Nearly 59% of taxable property within CISD boundaries is commercial or business personal property. These values grew 12.5%. Residential property values grew 2.6%.
According to Chief Financial Officer Diana Sircar, the school funding bills proposed by the 88th Legislative Session were not passed in the regular or the special sessions. As such, there has been no increase in school funding through the basic allotment by the state of Texas.
“There has been no state-driven teacher compensation increase, though CISD has a cost-of-living increase included in our budget,” Sircar said. “Also, there are no updates to special education funding or other allotments that address specific needs that require funding over the basic allotment.”
Sircar added that the State Legislature did pass property tax relief and school safety bills.
“However, there are additional mandates, specifically surrounding safety and security, for which the state has not provided sufficient funding.”
Sircar also shared that the CISD 2023-2024 tax rate assumes that the increase of the homestead exemption to $100,000 will be approved by voters in November.
The CISD Operating Budget of $169,256,570 includes:
$19 million decrease in tax revenue
$700k increase in state aid
A deficit of about $13.6M ($13,583,007) which the district will cover using its fund balance*
*Though final numbers won’t be known until the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year and the audit of CISD finances is complete, it is estimated that CISD will realize a budget deficit of about $3 million for the fiscal year 2022-2023, which will also come out of the district’s fund balance.
An increase in expenditures of $12,735,500 to support the priorities of the district, including
Cost-of-Living and Market-Based Increases for Teachers and Staff — $4,500,000
(based on Salary Study recommendations)
Position changes/additions during 2022-23 school year — $865,000
(includes special education, other instructional, administrative, technology, and security)
Position changes/additions for the 2023-24 school year — $4,850,000
(includes an increase in teachers based on enrollment, STEAM educators at
elementary schools, Computer Science educators at middle schools, special education instructors and counseling)
Funding for increased costs and programs — $1,380,500
One-year funding for special projects — $295,000
Incremental funding for HB3 mandated safety requirements — $845,000
Expenditures in the 2023-2024 Budget are allocated as follows:
Instruction — 56%
Recapture (Robin Hood) payment back to the state of Texas – 15%
Student Support Services — 10%
Non-Student Support Services – 10%
Instructional Leadership — 6%
Administrative — 3%
The reduction of the total tax rate and the increase in the residential homestead exemption to $100,000 will provide property tax relief. However, a property owner’s taxes may rise even though the tax rate has been reduced, due to an increase in the value of their property, which is determined by the county appraisal district.
The CISD Board approval of the 2023-2024 budget occurred after the district’s Public Hearing on the Budget and Proposed Tax Rate held at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 28, prior to the Board Meeting. Board Workshops or discussions were also held on the budgeting process in November, January, March, April, May, June, July and August. For details on the CISD 2023-2024 Budget, including information on the Board Budget workshops and supporting materials, visit www.coppellisd.com/budget.