Pflugerville ISD set to raise property taxes

Of course, Pflugerville ISD has $12.6 Million in the bank, their Superintdent makes $31K more than the Governor, and they only spend 49% of all revenues on Instruction, but clearly, they need more tax dollars.

From here:

Pflugerville ISD Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Adix proposed July 21 that the district raise its tax rate 8 cents this year due to declining property values and mounting debt.

Pflugerville homeowners would spend an additional $160 annually on a $200,000 house if their property values stayed the same.

“In a growing district, I don’t think the picture is ever going to be pretty,” PISD Superintendent Charles Dupre said at the July 21 board workshop meeting. “We’re going to have to keep incurring more debt to build more schools. The only light we would see is if the [property] values start to go up as they did before.”

The district’s total taxable value for 2011–12 is down $460 million, or about 6.4 percent, from what it was two years ago, Adix said.

The district is also still paying off several multi-million-dollar bonds, and Adix said PISD would need to raise the tax rate at least 2 cents to make this year’s debt payments.

Adix proposed that PISD increase its debt service tax from 42 cents to 50 cents. This would set PISD’s total tax rate at $1.54 per $100 of assessed property value.

PISD hasn’t raised the debt service tax rate since 2007, despite issuing more than $330 million in voter-approved bonds for construction and facility improvements in the last 10 years.The 8-cent tax increase would help PISD pay off its 2001 and 2003 bonds early and save the district $3.6 million in interest.

Adix said it would also help prepare the district for a $150 million bond proposal in November 2012 that, if approved by voters, would fund land purchases, a new high school, two new elementary schools and several campus renovations and technology updates.

Some board members expressed reservations at raising tax rates amid a shaky economy.

“I’m uncomfortable [raising taxes] right now when everyone is struggling,” board member Jimmy Don Havins said. “We’re asking for more money when they don’t have any more to give.”

The PISD board of trustees plans to set a proposed tax rate at the July 28 meeting, and a public hearing will be held prior to its adoption Aug. 18. In the following months, board members will decide whether to pursue a bond election in November 2012 or delay it another year.