On Thursday, August 24, the Canadian ISD board of trustees held a public hearing to discuss and receive comments on the school district’s 2023-24 budget and tax rate. No members of the public attended, and no questions or comments were submitted.

The proposed total tax rate of 0.9869/$100—including $0.7069 for maintenance and operations, and $0.28 to pay bonded indebtedness—is nearly 18-cents lower than last year. “This is probably the lowest tax rate anyone here will remember,” Superintendent Lynn Pulliam said. “Last year’s rate was lower than any previous rate. This is 18-cents lower than that.”

The reduced tax rate is due, in part, to new tax-rate legislation (see Proposition 4 below) passed by Texas lawmakers this year, and pending voter approval in the November 7, 2023, Constitutional Amendment Election. Among other components, the legislation includes provisions for additional school tax-rate compression and an increase in the state homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000.

Texas Proposition 4: Property Tax Changes and State Education Funding Amendment (2023)

The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to establish a temporary limit on the maximum appraised value of real property other than a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes; to increase the amount of the exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district applicable to residence homesteads from $40,000 to $100,000; to adjust the amount of the limitation on school district ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect increases in certain exemption amounts; to except certain appropriations to pay for ad valorem tax relief from the constitutional limitation on the rate of growth of appropriations; and to authorize the legislature to provide for a four-year term of office for a member of the board of directors of certain appraisal districts.

This homestead exemption is proposed in addition to the annual 20 percent homestead exemption Canadian ISD already gives local taxpayers, which is unaffected by the new legislation.

If Proposition 4 (HJR 2) gains the approval of voters this fall, the cuts will apply to 2023 tax bills due in January.

What does that mean for local taxpayers? For a home valued at $200,000, the local 20 percent homestead exemption is $40,000 and comes off the top, for a value of $160,000. The new statewide exemption provides an additional savings of $100,000, for a total taxable value of $60,000.

At Canadian ISD’s adopted tax rate of $0.9869, the owner of that home would pay $592.14 in school property taxes for 2023. That same homeowner would have paid $1,397.52 in 2022.

Pulliam told school trustees that many districts around the region are struggling with the cost of new school safety laws passed in Texas’ last Legislative session that require districts to have an armed guard on each campus. The laws were prompted, in large part, by the deadly shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School in May 2022. Nineteen children and two adults were killed, and 17 others injured, in what was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

The legislation raised the amount districts receive each year for school safety expenses to $10 per student—an increase of 28-cents—and provided them with an additional $15,000 per campus. “We have a declining enrollment and a deficit budget,” Dr. Pulliam told his board, “and the state is not funding this position for what would probably be a $75,000-80,000 job.”

The other problem, he said, is that law enforcement offices are already having a hard time filling the positions they have open.

“Sheriff Clapp is two deputies short now,” Pulliam said. “We did explore the option of whether they would be able to provide a law enforcement officer for each campus, and we could contract through them, but [Clapp] can’t even fill the spots he has.”

As a result of the law enforcement officer shortage, and the lack of funding, CISD qualifies for two “good cause exceptions,” Pulliam said.

The district is also well-prepared with the hybrid Guardian Plan that has been in place for over 10 years now. The plan involves the evaluation and DPS-approved training of educators to carry defensive handguns on school campuses.

“In the last three years,” Pulliam explained, “our administrators have been getting an additional level of tactical and range training. We feel like allowing them to carry every day would satisfy this [requirement] and keep our campuses safe.”

CISD is still eligible for the additional $15,000 per campus from the state, Pulliam said, which would help cover the expenses of equipment, DPS-level training costs and a stipend. The majority of that money would be used to satisfy other security requirements. “Anything related to safety and security, we can use that allotment for,” he noted.

“Are the administrators all okay with this?” asked board member Andy Orrell.

“Yes,” Pulliam answered. “We had pretty much already gone to carrying most days.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Proposition 4 (HJR 2) is one of fourteen amendments that will be considered by Texas voters in the November 7, 2023 Constitutional Amendment Election. For more information:

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/2023-explanatory-statements-14-final.pdf

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/2023-explanatory-statements-14-sp-final.pdf