Board of Trustees Approve Tax Rate, Call for November 5 Tax Rate Election (Prop A) to Increase Staff Salaries, School Safety and Mental Health Support
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The Manor ISD Board of Trustees voted to call for a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE), also known as Prop A, for Nov. 5 to increase staff salaries, school safety and mental health support and approved a tax rate of $1.0814 per taxable $100 for the 2024-2025 school year during a called meeting on Aug. 19. The calling for the election follows months of exploration by the Board of Trustees and the approval of the 2024-2025 budget, which included discussions of the impact a passing VATRE/Prop A would have on Manor ISD.
The VATRE/Prop A allows voters to approve or disapprove the tax rate adopted by the Board of Trustees. If passed, it will allow Manor ISD to access the maximum amount of tax revenue from “golden pennies”, funds which are not subject to recapture and would remain with the District.
If the VATRE/Prop A is approved by voters, an additional $4.8 million would be injected into the budget to:
- Provide all employees with a total 3% salary increase of the midpoint for the 2024-2025 school year.
- Support campus safety and security by funding salaries for new school police officers and equipment, and
- Provide additional mental health support by funding salaries for new social workers and student programs.
The $1.0814 tax rate depends on the VATRE/Prop A’s approval, which , if approved, would be the lowest tax rate Manor ISD has had since 2015. The district could achieve this by reducing the portion of the tax rate that is used to pay off bond debt, as the district’s debt has been decreased over the years through accelerated debt payment. These factors and the state lowering the maximum compressed tax rate during its 88th legislature session last year would result in the $1.0814 tax rate for the 2024-2025 school year.
If Prop A is approved, a homeowner of an average value home in Manor ($233,192) would see about a $10 decrease in Manor ISD property taxes per year.
If the VATRE/Prop A is not approved, the District would not be able to provide the additional salary increases and school safety and mental health resources due to various financial constraints. Factors that impacted this year's budget development included the discontinuation of federal funding programs that the district had utilized, the Texas legislature's decision not to increase the basic allotment of funds school districts receive per student, state mandates like HB3 that the district will have to allocate unanticipated funds to meet, rising operating costs due to inflation and the districts recapture payment. This year alone, Manor ISD is expected to give nearly $1.7 million back to the state in recapture payments.
In addition to these costs, Manor ISD will allocate over $1 million to keep health insurance costs for employees the same as last year. District insurance costs for staff rose 12%, and Manor ISD chose to take on the additional costs within the budget instead of passing the costs onto employees.
In addition, if the VATRE/Prop A does not pass, the district will face a $20.8 million deficit, a $3.1 million reduction of the budget deficit for the 2023-2024 school year.
More information on the election, FAQs, community meeting schedule and polling times and locations are available on the district’s VATRE/Prop A website. For additional questions, please email us.