Canyon ISD seeking a 3 cent tax increase

Earlier this week, the Canyon Independent School District (CISD) held a public meeting to discuss the proposed tax rate increase. The proposed tax rate is $0.9577, which is a $0.03 increase from the 2024 tax rate. This increase would add $56.54 to the average annual tax bill for a CISD resident.

The additional funds raised through the tax rate increase would be used to maintain and benefit all student programs, improve school safety and security, fund the purchase of additional school buses, and offer higher pay for teachers.

“We did that because there’s several non-negotiables for us at Canyon ISD … We’ve got programs across our district from academics to fine arts to athletics and beyond that are excelling in so many ways at every campus that we have, providing that basic education and then enhancing every opportunity for each of the nearly 11,500 students that we currently have is a non-negotiable for us,” Canyon ISD school board president, Jenni Winegarner said.

The district has adopted a 2024/2025 deficit budget of $5.6 million. The funds from the tax rate increase and state contributions would help to address this deficit.

The CISD Board members explained that the tax rate increase is necessary due to inflation and other factors that have increased the district's budget. They also emphasized the importance of maintaining the district's programs and ensuring the safety of students and staff.

“This past year in the Texas legislature that convened in 2023, we saw a number of safety mandates that came out of Austin, and I think everyone in this room and beyond can agree, there’s nothing more critical than making sure that our staff and our students and our parents that are sending their kids off to school feel that their kids are secure and that they’re safe in our campuses. So, those are all great things, but what the state forgot to do was to issue any funding to go along with those mandates,” Winegarner said.

A citizen who said that he felt “misled” following the 2018 bond election, questioned the need for the tax increase. 

“You’ve talked about the difference between tax rate increase and a bond issue, and bottom line is, it’s all money that we got to pay on our taxes at the end of the year. So you know, whether you call it A or you call it B, it’s all it’s all money to us,' the citizen said.

Winegarner responded that the tax rate increase would accommodate for inflation that has affected the district’s budget, including a 427% increase in insurance, 78% increase in utilities, 72% increase in cleaning supplies, and 44% increase in fuel cost when comparing their 2019 budget to their 2024 budget.

“This is a different conversation because this is pertaining to the M/O, or the maintenance and operations portion of our budget, and that’s the things that are used just to keep the lights on, to keep the doors open, to pay our teachers and to provide instruction, and because of the increases that we’ve seen, what we’re asking is a three-cent increase on that 93 cent rate that we had that we adopted for this year,” Winegarner said.

In addition to maintaining school programs and updating security, the tax rate increase would also allow CISD’s Competative Compensation Plan to offer higher pay for its teachers.

“We’ve come a long way in the last several years in getting our teacher salary competitive. Because while so many elements of Canyon ISD have always been more of a smaller rural school district kind of perspective, we have 11,500 students. We are no longer a rural school, and our nearest neighbor and fiercest competitor for talented teachers that we want to hang on to is Amarillo ISD, and we’ve worked really hard to get our pay scale into a comparable place with them,” Winegarner said.

More information about this tax rate election:

What is a Tax Rate Election (TRE)?

State law requires that school districts seek voter approval to raise their tax rate above a prescribed amount. Canyon ISD is asking voters to consider a 3-cent increase to the district's maintenance and operations tax rate. In Texas, maintenance and operations budgets are used to fund daily operations, such as salaries, student programs and utilities.

Why are districts across the State holding tax rate elections?

State funding formulas for school districts have not been updated since 2019 despite substantial inflation, leading to multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls in school districts across Texas. Canyon ISD adopted a deficit budget of $5.6 million for the 2024-2025 school year to provide staff with a midpoint raise and adequately staff our rapidly growing school district. If approved by voters, a TRE would generate $5.1 million for the 2024-2025 school year and additional funding each year as the district continues to experience enrollment growth. 

How will the district use the additional tax dollars?

Canyon ISD’s priorities are:

Increase safety, security and armed officers at all campuses

Support and maintain all student programs

Retain a competitive compensation plan and quality workforce

Buses for additional bus routes to accommodate for growth in enrollment

Manage all inflationary costs, especially insurance and utilities

Will my tax rate go up if I vote for the TRE?

2024 Canyon ISD Tax Rate was $0.93 (a 21-cent decrease from 2023)

2025 Proposed Canyon ISD Tax Rate is $0.9577

Approval of the tax rate would add 3 cents to the district tax rate.

In Canyon ISD, the average home is valued at $304,130. For homeowners with the $100,000 homestead exemption, the taxable value is $204,130. At this taxable value, the homeowner would see an increase in taxes of $56.54 for the year.

 

Since I am over 65, will my taxes remain frozen?

Yes, school taxes would remain frozen and would not increase. Citizens 65 and older who have applied for and received the over 65 exemption will see no increase in their taxes as a result of approval of the tax rate election.

When you qualify for an Over 65 or Disabled Person homestead exemption, the school taxes on your house will not increase. The homestead tax ceiling is a limit on the amount of school taxes you pay. The ceiling freezes your school taxes at the amount you pay in the year that you qualify for the exemption.

The school taxes on your house may go below the ceiling, but not above.

What does the State provide to CISD if the TRE is approved?

If Canyon ISD voters approve the $0.9577 tax rate in the November election, the State will provide additional funds to the district in the amount of $2,933,564 while the local property taxes would raise an estimated total of $2,166,011.

While the average homeowner would contribute an additional $56.54 over the prior year tax rate, the State contribution would be an additional $2,933,564 to Canyon ISD every year going forward.

 

Canyon ISD Financial Integrity: 

Canyon ISD has received an “A” rating, the top score possible, in the Texas Education Agency’s Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, or FIRST, each year since 1999 when TEA began using the FIRST rating system for school districts. 

Despite budget shortfalls, Canyon ISD has maintained a high level of student success and prioritized student experiences; however, we are now reaching a point where we can no longer sustain all programs financially.

What about Federal funds districts received during COVID? 

As with school districts across the nation, Canyon ISD received three series of one-time payments from the federal government in the form of ESSER funding. These funds existed in a finite time frame and are no longer provided; all funds are legally required to be used by September 2024. Districts received varying monetary amounts of ESSER funding based on their socioeconomic demographics. Canyon ISD received about $7 million in ESSER funding over the course of three rounds. While Canyon ISD planned for the "fiscal cliff" resulting from these funds ceasing after their initial allotment, the lack of increase in State funding for the past 5 years has been more difficult.