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Marc A. Puig
School finance is very complicated but can be understood if we look at what kind of tax rates we currently utilize to meet the needs of the children of our community. School tax rates, not just BISD but all Texas school districts, consist of two separate taxes: 1) Maintenance and Operations Tax; and 2) Interest and Sinking Fund. The Maintenance and Operations Tax or “M&O” is used to handle the day to day operating expenses of the district. This includes teacher salaries, utility expenses, supplies and more. The Interest and Sinking Fund or “I&S” covers the debt service of the district. This includes the debt responsibility acquired through bond issues for big ticket items such as new construction and facility upgrades.
Last year, the BISD tax rate was $1.2054 per $100 valuation with an M&O rate of $1.0400 and I&S rate of $0.1654. What our BISD board of trustees did on Aug. 2 was approve a total tax rate for this year of $1.2054 per $100 valuation, the same as last year, but changed the M&O rate to $1.1700 and the I&S rate to $0.0354. This is known as a tax swap or as some people like to call it “swapping pennies.”
This tax swap, if approved by voters, will generate an additional $1 million in revenue every year in state funding for BISD students—again, without increasing the tax rate. The additional monies received will be used to provide more programs and services for our students and teachers, including academic technology, fine arts enrichment and overall modernization of business practices.
How is this possible? The reason our trustees proposed the new tax rate structure is because the State of Texas compensates school districts at a higher rate, nearly 2 to 1 in our “tax swap” plan, for maintenance and operations funds received. Didn’t we say that school finance was complicated?
On Oct. 1, BISD voters will decide if they would like to keep the same, but restructured, tax rate of $1.2054 per $100 valuation ($1.1700 M&O + $0.0354 I&S), or rollback to last year’s tax rate structure of $1.2054 per $100 valuation ($1.0400 M&O + $0.1654 I&S). If the voters say no, their taxes will remain the same. If the voters say yes, their tax rate will also remain the same, but BISD will be able to maximize state funding available to our students in the amount of an additional $1,000,000 per year.
I strongly encourage individuals with questions about the tax swap to come by the BISD administration building located at 201 N. St. Mary’s St., or call me at 361-358-7111. Early voting begins on Sept. 12. Information on early voting and election day locations are available on the BISD website www.beevilleisd.net.
