Voters are deciding whether to approve a tax rate hike that would generate new revenue for Central Texas’ largest public school district, which is facing a $119 million budget shortfall. Austin Independent School District officials said the shortfall is largely due to the fact that State funding for public schools is not keeping pace with inflation. Proposal A could help fill some of this funding gap.

If voters approve Proposition A during the Nov. 5 election, it would raise the tax rate by 9.1 cents per $100 of taxable property value. That means someone who owns a home assessed at $553,493, the area median, will see school taxes increase by about $412 a year.

Austin ISD estimates this increase will generate $171 million in funding. The district would keep $41 million of that to spend on giving the vast majority of staff members a raise, reducing the deficit and covering the cost of more instructional coaches, as well as special education and mental health resources.

But what would happen to the other $130 million? Well, that funding would go to the state as part of a system known as recapture or Robin Hood that redistributes money from districts with high home values ​​to those with lower property values.

A district is subject to recapture if it collects more money from local property taxes than state school funding formulas say it needs to operate.

While Prop A supporters say Austin ISD badly needs new revenue to retain teachers and maintain services, the fact that 76 percent of the revenue from the proposed tax rate increase would go to the state has even led some public school advocates to speak out against it.

Former AISD administrators criticize Prop A

Cheryl Bradley is one of 10 former school board members who signed a letter last week against Prop A. Bradley represented East Austin District 1 from 2002 to 2015. She said she wasn’t surprised by the Austin ISD school board called a tax rate election because other districts in Texas do the same.

In Central Texas alone, Manor ISD, San Marcos CISD, Liberty Hill ISD and Marble Falls ISD all have tax rate elections on the ballot.

What surprised Bradley about Austin ISD’s tax rate choice, however, was the breakdown of the money the district is expected to keep and the amount that would go to the state.

“It would be different if it were reversed — if we kept three-quarters and the other fourth went to the state, but it’s not. The state gets most of the money,” she said. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Bradley is also concerned that even if the school district had more money, it might not improve school outcomes for all students.

In addition to the letter she sent with other Austin ISD administrators, she sent her own asking why the voters of District 1, which she used to represent, should support the tax rate increase. She wrote that East Austin neighborhood schools should be “a beacon of discovery and hope” but instead are a “disappointment.”

She added that Austin ISD is failing to serve African-American students, who represent approx 6% of the district’s student population. Bradley pointed to data showing that many African-American students lag behind their peers when it comes to math and reading skills.

“If I don’t see the academics in the Austin Independent School District improving for every kid, not just some, but every kid in every district (school board), why should we put more money into a failing situation ?” she asked.

Bradley also said he thinks the district should have tried to make more budget cuts before asking voters to raise the tax rate.

“If you haven’t looked at every line item and you haven’t looked at every place you can cut, then I think you’re asking a lot of Austin citizens,” she said.

Austin ISD cut about $30 million from the current budget, mainly at its central administrative office. The district also reviews department budgets and identifying ways to reduce spending by an additional $90 million over the next three years.

Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura told reporters Monday that the district’s budget problems are so serious that they can’t be solved by spending cuts alone.

“There is no way to cut your way out of the deficit. We need to rethink how we work,” he said.

He said school districts need more money from the state, but he doesn’t want Austin ISD to rely on the Texas Legislature to take that step.

“There’s a real chance the state won’t do anything,” he said. “So I have to prepare for it.”

The incumbent wants voters to grapple with what’s at stake

When Austin ISD trustees voted in August to call a tax rate election, School Board Vice President Kevin Foster was the only trustee to vote against it. He raised concerns about the percentage of income that can be recovered.

“The Austin community deeply values ​​education and is generally willing to support bonds, support tax rate increases, etc. to support education,” he said. “At the same time, we’re in an affordability crisis and we’re not really aligned with the state’s priorities.”

Foster said he also understands Bradley’s concerns about academic results, but said if the goal is to improve them, fewer resources will only hurt students.

“It’s a terrible Catch-22 because you’re asking people to support something that’s improving by allowing them to have resources, but they say, ‘Well, you’re still not doing a good job anyway,'” he said. . “So I’m sympathetic to the perspective and when I look down the road, we need more resources, not less, to even be viable.”

Foster wants voters to better understand how Austin ISD ended up in this financial situation despite receiving the highest ratings for fiscal management. That includes a A rating for financial integrity from the Texas Education Agency, the state agency that oversees public schools.

“A voter really should know, here’s the situation the state has put the district in,” he said.

In his capacity as a professor UT AustinFoster published a policy brief this week that he gutted the state’s school funding system. Foster pointed to recent research that found 73% of Texas school districts are underfunded.

“At its core, the voter approval tax rate election (VATRE) is more than a local ballot measure. It is a reflection of the ongoing challenges in the Texas school finance system and the difficult choices facing school districts across the state,” he wrote.

Foster said it’s ultimately up to voters to decide how they feel about Austin ISD keeping $41 million and sending $130 million to the state.

“I want the voters to wrestle with this so that I know as an administrator that I represent Austin and Austin’s values,” he said.

After publication, Foster told KUT News that he has considered his options and plans to vote in favor of Prop A.

All that glitters is not gold

Chandra Villanueva said more and more school districts are asking voters to approve higher tax rates because the state legislature is underfunding public schools. Villanueva is director of policy and advocacy at Every Texana left-wing think tank based in Austin.

“I think the tax election in Austin ISD is just a really good example of what school districts have to do when the state doesn’t actually fund them at realistic levels,” she said.

There is a limit to how much districts can raise their tax rates, however. Districts can raise their tax rates 17 cents above what the state says they should be. Eight of these cents are what are known as “gold pennies” and nine are “copper pennies.” Unlike gold money, copper coins are subject to recapture, which means that some of the money could go to the state.

Austin ISD’s tax rate election revenue is subject to recapture, as the proposed increase is comprised of the district’s copper nine. He has already used up almost all the gold coins.

“What Austin does is it maximizes those copper pennies,” Villanueva said. “They have a small fraction of a gold penny left.”

Villanueva reiterated Austin ISD is not alone in asking voters to approve higher tax rates.

“And if one recapture district is struggling, that means every district in the state is struggling,” she said. “So if Austin can’t make it, no one can in this current system.”

Early voting is ongoing and runs until November 1st. Election day is November 5.