Tax Rate Remains Unchanged for Sixth Straight Year

Following a public hearing Sept. 22 on the proposed 2014 tax rate, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adopt a tax rate that maintains a combined or total tax rate of $1.3945 per $100 of assessed valuation.

The vote by Trustees also maintains $1.09 as the General Fund Tax Rate for maintenance and operations, and $0.3045 as the Debt Service Rate set for approved bond issues, for the sixth year in a row.

The combined or total tax rate of $1.3945 is now 6 years old; the $1.09 General Fund Tax Rate has been maintained for eight years. For the owner of a $200,000 home in Spring Branch qualifying for the full 20 percent homestead exemption, estimated school taxes paid on a $200,000 home will be about $2,022, or about the same as last year.

By comparison, among Houston area school districts, school taxes paid on the same home now average $2,413, or about $100 more than last year. Spring Branch is one of the few school districts in Harris County and the region that continues to give its homeowners the full 20 percent homestead exemption.

 Property values in Spring Branch increased by 12.6 percent this year, but district revenues did not increase significantly due to the state’s current school financing plan.

By current law, the State of Texas funds less if property values increase so that SBISD’s revenues don’t increase correspondingly. The Texas Legislature, which meets again beginning in January 2015, is responsible for the school funding plan which drains funds away from our local district.