At the Aug. 19 Board Meeting, the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees approved a Voter Approval Taxpayer Ratification Election (VATRE) to be on the Nov. 5, 2024 election ballot. The VATRE seeks to increase the CISD Maintenance and Operations (M&O) tax rate by 3.17 pennies, generating an additional $2.4 million in funding for the district.
A school district's tax rate consists of two parts — the Maintenance and Operations or M&O tax rate, which funds operational expenses such as employee salaries, supplies, utilities and bus repairs, and the Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax rate, which pays for bond principal and interest. In 2010, voters approved 17 pennies for our M&O tax rate. Due to a 2019 state law, these pennies were compressed, leaving 3.17 pennies that the voters can vote on through the 2024 VATRE election.
On Nov. 5, 2024, CISD will have a measure on the ballot to ask the voters for 3.17 copper pennies to be added to the M&O tax rate. Coppell ISD's property tax rate is now 18 cents lower than in the 2022-2023 school year.
For taxpayers aged 65 and older with frozen school taxes, there will be no increase. For the average household, the VATRE would mean an additional $163 per year or about $14 a month. The M&O tax rate, with the VATRE, is proposed to be reduced from $0.8022 to $0.7869 — a reduction of 1.53 pennies.
For the Nov. 5, 2024 election, the VATRE election for the M&O tax rate increase of 3.17 pennies resulting in $2.4 million in additional funding will be on the ballot. Voters will be asked to vote for or against the measure. Early voting is from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. Visit DallasCountyVotes.org for more information on polling locations and times.
To learn more about the VATRE, visit www.coppellisd.com/vatre or email VATRE@CoppellISD.com.