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Austin ISD Latest Culprit in Tax Hike Craze

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Tonight, any minute now, the board of the Austin Independent School District will vote on a $1.1 billion budget.  The average homeowner will pay another $168 per year in property taxes (this in spite of AISD’s shrinking enrollment).

The Statesman broke down the tax reality for AISD taxpayers (emphasis mine):

Proposed tax rate: $1.202 per $100 in assessed property value

That’s lower than this year’s rate of $1.222 per $100 in value but is the highest tax rate the district can adopt without triggering a rollback election and requiring voter approval. Still, to raise the same amount of money as in the past year, the Austin school district would need to charge more, $1.23749 cents per $100, because of the recapture payment.

Bottom line: The school district portion of the tax bill would be $3,570.07 for the owner of the average-value home, worth $297,011. That’s an increase of $167.54 more than the tax bill for last year’s average homeowner.

Look, I’ve been blogging about tax hikes and the issues with appraisals and everything else for a long time.  There is no easier punch to throw than one aimed at a taxing entity hell-bent on raising money.  It isn’t like I do this without full knowledge of the challenges the school districts are facing – AISD is set to pay more than double in recapture than they did in the last budget cycle, a huge problem created by the “Robin Hood” law in Texas’ school finance set-up.  That amounts to $272 million this time around.  But don’t let it fool you, because the district has made it clear, if they weren’t spending that money on recapture, they’d use it locally, and your taxes would still go up. (Don’t believe me, check out what AISD’s Chief Financial Officer told KXAN).

I’m throwing this punch this time because it isn’t just Austin ISD fixing to raise taxes here in the People’s Republic of Travis County.  James Quintero at the Texas Public Policy Foundation wrote about this earlier today – the city of Austin wants $136 more and Travis County $22 more.  This is just for starters, you realize, because there are dozens of other taxing entities in the county (so you’re not safe if you don’t live in AISD, or the city, etc).

In the midst of all this, the city of Austin is suing the state and the Travis County Central Appraisal District because they don’t think they’re getting their fair share from commercial property owners.

It is time to worry.  It is time to get involved.  It is time to say, if not “no,” at least “hey, hold on a second.”

Austin is expensive.  Travis County is cost-prohibitive.  Austin ISD has to be experiencing lower enrollment in part because parents are saying not only no, but hell no to the cost of living here.  And don’t fool yourselves!  The cost of living is exacerbated by rising taxes.

I’d say this is an action item, but it’s too late to do anything and anyway, if AISD voters are really content with their board and the rising costs (they must be, since the only people at tonight’s meeting are IN FAVOR of the budget), well.  We get the government we deserve, right?



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