Voters are deciding whether to approve a tax rate increase that would generate new revenue for Central Texas’ largest public school district, which is struggling with a $119 million budget deficit. Austin Independent School District officials said the deficit was largely because public funding of public schools does not keep up with inflation. Proposal A could help fill part of this funding gap.

If voters approve Proposition A in the Nov. 5 election, it would increase the tax rate by 9.1 cents per $100 of a property’s assessed value. This means that someone with a home valued at $553,493, the average value in the region, would see their school taxes increase by approximately $412 per year.

Austin ISD estimates this increase will generate $171 million in funding. The district would retain $41 million to spend on increasing the vast majority of staff, reducing its deficit and covering the cost of more instructional coaches as well as education resources specialized and mental health.

But what would happen to the remaining $130 million? Well, that funding would go to the state under a system, known as clawback or Robin Hood, that redistributes money from districts with high home values ​​to those with high property values. properties is inferior.

A district is likely to be clawed back if it collects more money in local property taxes than public school funding formulas say it needs to operate.

While Prop A supporters say Austin ISD badly needs new revenue to retain teachers and maintain services, The fact that 76 percent of the revenue generated by the proposed tax rate increase would go to the state has led even some public school supporters to speak out against the proposal.

Former AISD administrators criticize Prop A

Cheryl Bradley is one of 10 former school board members who signed a letter last week opposing the A. Bradley proposal. represented District 1 in East Austin from 2002 to 2015. She said she wasn’t surprised by the Austin ISD school board. triggered a tax rate election because other districts in Texas are doing the same.

In Central Texas alone, Manor ISD, San Marcos CISD, Liberty Hill ISD, and Marble Falls ISD all have tax rate elections on the ballot.

What surprised Bradley about the Austin ISD tax rate election was the breakdown of the money the district is supposed to keep and how much would go to the state.

“It would be different if the situation was reversed – if we kept three quarters and the other quarter went to state, but that’s not the case. The state gets the majority of the money,” she said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Bradley also worries that even if the school district had more money, it wouldn’t improve academic outcomes for all students.

In addition to the letter she sent with other Austin ISD trustees, she sent her own question asking why voters in District 1, which she previously represented, should support increasing the rate. taxation. She wrote that East Austin’s neighborhood schools should be a “beacon of discovery and hope” but are instead a “disappointment.”

She added that Austin ISD is failing to serve African American students, who make up approximately 6% of the neighborhood’s student population. Bradley pointed to data that shows many African American students lag behind their peers in math and reading skills.

“If I don’t see academics in the Austin Independent School District improving for every child, not just some, but every child in every (school board) district, why should we invest more money in a failure situation? » she asked.

Bradley also said she thinks the district should have tried to make more budget cuts before asking voters to raise the tax rate.

“If you haven’t looked at every line item and every place where you could possibly cut spending, then I think you’re asking a lot of the citizens of Austin,” she said.

Austin ISD cut about $30 million of its current budget, mainly at the level of its central administrative office. The district also reviews department budgets and identify ways to reduce spending by an additional $90 million over the next three years.

Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura told reporters Monday that the district’s budget problems are so severe that they cannot be solved by spending cuts alone.

“There is no way out of the deficit. We need to rethink the way we work,” he said.

He said school districts need more money from the state, but he doesn’t want Austin ISD to rely on the Texas Legislature to take that step.

“There’s a real chance the state will do nothing,” he said. “So I have to prepare for that.”

Current admin wants voters to grapple with issues

When Austin ISD trustees voted in August to trigger the tax rate election, school board Vice President Kevin Foster was the only trustee to vote against. He raised concerns on the percentage of income subject to recovery.

“(The) Austin community deeply values ​​education and is generally willing to support bonds, support tax rate increases, etc. to support education,” he said. “At the same time, we are going through a crisis of financial accessibility and we are not really in line with the priorities of the State. »

Foster said he also understands Bradley’s concerns about academic performance, but said if the goal is to improve them, fewer resources will only hurt students.

“It’s a terrible dead end because you’re asking people to support something that’s getting better by allowing them to have resources, but they’re saying, ‘Well, you’re not doing a good job yet anyway.'” , he said. . “So, I am supportive of that perspective and when I look to the future, we need more resources, not less, to be viable.”

Foster wants voters to better understand how Austin ISD ended up in this financial situation, despite receiving top marks for fiscal management. This includes a A rating for financial integrity of the Texas Education Agency, the state agency that oversees public schools.

“A voter should really know, this is the situation the state has put the district in,” he said.

In his capacity as Professor at UT AustinTo favor published a guidance note this week in which he destroyed the state’s school finance system. Foster pointed to recent research that found 73% of Texas school districts are underfunded.

“At its core, the Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) is more than just a local ballot measure. This reflects the current challenges in Texas’ school finance system and the difficult choices facing school districts across the state,” he wrote.

Foster said ultimately it was up to voters to decide what they thought about Austin ISD keeping $41 million and sending $130 million to the state.

“I want voters to fight this so I can know, as a trustee, that I represent Austin and its values,” he said.

After the release, Foster told KUT News he had looked at the options and planned to vote in favor of Proposition A.

All that glitters is not gold

Chandra Villanueva said more school districts are asking voters to approve higher tax rates because the state Legislature is underfunding public schools. Villanueva is director of policy and advocacy at Every Texana left-wing think tank based in Austin.

“I think the fiscal election in Austin ISD is just a really good example of what school districts have to do when the state isn’t funding them at realistic levels,” she said.

There is, however, a limit to how far districts can increase their tax rates. Districts can increase their tax rates by 17 cents above what the state says is necessary. Eight of these pennies are what are known as “gold pennies” and nine are “copper pennies.” Unlike gold coins, copper coins are subject to clawback, meaning some of the money could go to the state.

Revenue from the Austin ISD tax rate election is subject to clawback because the proposed increase includes the district’s nine cent copper. He has already used almost all of his gold coins.

“What Austin does is maximize those copper cents,” Villanueva said. “They have a small fraction of a penny left in gold. »

Villanueva reiterated that Austin ISD is not alone in asking voters to approve higher tax rates.

“And if one winback district is in trouble, that means every district in the state is in trouble,” she said. “So if Austin can’t make it happen, no one can make it happen with the current system.”

Early voting is underway and lasts until November 1st. Election day is November 5.