Tax Rate Remains the Same

After recent Board of Trustees action, Spring Branch ISD homeowners will see no change in district tax rates. They will also continue to receive the 20 percent homestead exemption.

Board of Trustees adopts unchanged 2012 tax rate

Following a second public hearing Sept. 24 on the proposed 2012 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.

Spring Branch is one of the few school districts in Harris County and the region that continues to give its homeowners the 20 percent homestead exemption. The vote by Trustees also maintains $1.09 as the General Fund Tax Rate for maintenance and operations, and $0.3045 for the fourth year in a row as the Debt Service Rate set for approved bond issues.

The combined or total tax rate of $1.3945 is now four years old; the $1.09 General Fund Tax Rate has been maintained for six 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.
For Houston area school districts, such school taxes average $2,400 by comparison. Property values in Spring Branch increased by 3 percent, but district revenues did not increase due to the state’s current school financing plan. By current law, the State of Texas funds less so school revenues do not increase.

The Texas Legislature meets again in January 2013.