Flour Bluff ISD is asking voters to approve new tax rates in November to fund pay raises for teachers and staff and safety and security initiatives across the district.
The proposed tax rate is lower than the previous year’s rate, but basically represents an increase because it would raise an additional $3.4 million due to the increase in property value.
If approved, the new tax rate will be $0.9986 per $100 of assessed value. If denied, the rate will be changed to $0.9286, the highest rate state law allows the district to charge without holding an election. This is the compression ratio based on attribute value changes.
If the higher tax rate is approved, the difference of 7 cents per $100 would increase by $140 for the owner of a $200,000 property.
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Whether the election is successful or not, the tax rate will be lower than in previous years. In 2021-22, the tax rate for the region is $1.0063. In 2018-19, the rate was $1.14.
The decline in tax rates in recent years is due to rising property values and changes to state laws designed to limit the growth of property tax laws. Property values in Flour Bluff ISD have increased by 13 per cent this year.
Flour Bluff’s tax rate is lower than other nearby areas. Gregory-Portland, Tuloso-Midway, Callallen, Corpus Christi and Alice ISD all had higher rates overall.
If the rate is approved, the district intends to use the tax increase to maintain the board salary increase approved this summer.
The district raised the starting salaries for teachers to $50,000 and also increased starting salaries for paramedics, clerical staff and paraprofessionals.
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“We have to compete with the surrounding area,” said Ludivina Cansino, chief financial officer of Flour Bluff ISD.
Flour Bluff ISD superintendent Velma Soliz-Garcia said other school districts, such as Callallen ISD and Alice ISD, offer teachers higher salaries.
Alice’s teachers start at $53,000, while Callallen ISD offers $51,000 for beginning teachers, based on each district’s salary scale.
“We still need to maintain (the recent raise), but we also need to keep raising wages in the future to remain competitive,” Soliz-Garcia said.
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Cansino and Soliz-Garcia said funding was also needed for various security projects, such as improving locks and access controls, and growing the Flour Bluff ISD Police Department.
Over the next few weeks, the district will hold community meetings to inform the public about the proposed tax rate:
- Superintendent’s Listening and Learning Sessions – Tuesday, September 2 at 6:27pm at Flor Bluff High School Teaching Theatre
- Flour Bluff Citizens Council Meeting – Tuesday, October, 6 p.m. 4. At Grace Community Church
- Supervisor’s Listening and Learning Session – Thursday, October 10 at 6.13pm at Coffee Waves, Flour Bluff