Posted 10:52 pm Thursday, October 25, 2007
Palestine ISD To Host Public Forum
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
PALESTINE - The Palestine Independent School District will offer a public forum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Palestine High School cafeteria to discuss the Nov. 6 rollback election.
During Thursday night's forum, school officials will talk with the public about the details of the election and the public can then participate in a question-and-answer session.
PISD is asking voters to decide whether to allow the district to set a tax rate 13 cents higher than the rollback rate, but about 20 cents lower than last year's adopted rate.
The 13 cents will generate about $1.1 million in local revenue and an additional contribution of $844,000 from the state, which PISD would not otherwise get, according to PISD information.
Those funds would help provide for pay raises for employees; in particular, teachers. The raises will be $3,500 for professionals, including teachers, and $1,500 for paraprofessionals.
"We just had to do something," Superintendent Jerry Mayo said. "It seems like each year it's been harder and harder to attract and keep staff. There's a lot of competitiveness out there on the part of districts."
Megan Lawson, director of business services for PISD, said the school board felt that with the new state finance laws, this was the only way for the district to receive additional funds.
"We're not growing with students, and a tax value increase is not going to help us anymore because of the way the new funding formula works," Ms. Lawson said. "If they wanted to try to do a substantial raise for teachers, then this was really the only way."
If the measure does not pass, the district will still have a balanced budget, but the budget just will not include those salary increases, officials said.
"We adopted our budget based on if it didn't pass," Ms. Lawson said. "We'll amend it after the election, if it passes."
If voters do approve the proposition, the raises will go into effect and be retroactive, she said.
According to information from the school district, PISD adopted a 2007 maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate of $1.17 per $100 valuation and a debt service tax rate of $.11038 for a total tax rate of $1.28038 per $100 valuation.
While that total rate represents a 13.8 percent, or $.20512, decrease from the 2006 adopted tax rate of $1.4855, the state requires that an M&O rate greater than the rollback rate of $1.04005 be approved through a rollback election. The total rate for PISD, if the rate is rolled back, would be $1.15038, factoring in the debt service rate.
PISD's debt service rate of $.11038, will remain the same regardless of the outcome of the election. Funds generated from the debt service rate pay for old bonds.
Ms. Lawson said voters should understand that their tax rate for the school district will be lower, whether the proposition passes or not. The difference is, if it passes, they will see less of a decrease.
"Their taxes will go down, it's just do they want them to go down all the way to the state-mandated rate or do they want to give a little so that we can get a little back from the state?" she said. "By not going down all the way, they can make a huge investment in the community. Two million dollars will do a lot for the school district ... All that money comes back in our community."
The ballot language could be confusing for some voters - for those in favor of supporting the total rate of $1.28 per $100 valuation, which is the lesser decrease in the rate, they should vote "for" the proposition. If a voter does not want the tax rate of $1.28 per $100 valuation, but rather the lower total rate of $1.15038 per $100 valuation, they should vote "against" the proposition.
Taxpayers who are eligible for the over 65 or disabled property tax exemption will not see an increase on their tax ceilings, according to PISD information.
Other school districts across the state are having similar elections in November, including Lindale ISD.
Mayo said he expects more school districts to have these elections.
"I hope the public will take a look at what we're trying to accomplish," he said.
Early voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through Nov. 2 at the PISD Administration Building, 1600 South Loop 256.
For more information, visit Palestine ISD's Web site at www.palestineschools.org and click on the link for "Tax Rate Election Information."
Staff Writer
PALESTINE - The Palestine Independent School District will offer a public forum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Palestine High School cafeteria to discuss the Nov. 6 rollback election.
During Thursday night's forum, school officials will talk with the public about the details of the election and the public can then participate in a question-and-answer session.
PISD is asking voters to decide whether to allow the district to set a tax rate 13 cents higher than the rollback rate, but about 20 cents lower than last year's adopted rate.
The 13 cents will generate about $1.1 million in local revenue and an additional contribution of $844,000 from the state, which PISD would not otherwise get, according to PISD information.
Those funds would help provide for pay raises for employees; in particular, teachers. The raises will be $3,500 for professionals, including teachers, and $1,500 for paraprofessionals.
"We just had to do something," Superintendent Jerry Mayo said. "It seems like each year it's been harder and harder to attract and keep staff. There's a lot of competitiveness out there on the part of districts."
Megan Lawson, director of business services for PISD, said the school board felt that with the new state finance laws, this was the only way for the district to receive additional funds.
"We're not growing with students, and a tax value increase is not going to help us anymore because of the way the new funding formula works," Ms. Lawson said. "If they wanted to try to do a substantial raise for teachers, then this was really the only way."
If the measure does not pass, the district will still have a balanced budget, but the budget just will not include those salary increases, officials said.
"We adopted our budget based on if it didn't pass," Ms. Lawson said. "We'll amend it after the election, if it passes."
If voters do approve the proposition, the raises will go into effect and be retroactive, she said.
According to information from the school district, PISD adopted a 2007 maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate of $1.17 per $100 valuation and a debt service tax rate of $.11038 for a total tax rate of $1.28038 per $100 valuation.
While that total rate represents a 13.8 percent, or $.20512, decrease from the 2006 adopted tax rate of $1.4855, the state requires that an M&O rate greater than the rollback rate of $1.04005 be approved through a rollback election. The total rate for PISD, if the rate is rolled back, would be $1.15038, factoring in the debt service rate.
PISD's debt service rate of $.11038, will remain the same regardless of the outcome of the election. Funds generated from the debt service rate pay for old bonds.
Ms. Lawson said voters should understand that their tax rate for the school district will be lower, whether the proposition passes or not. The difference is, if it passes, they will see less of a decrease.
"Their taxes will go down, it's just do they want them to go down all the way to the state-mandated rate or do they want to give a little so that we can get a little back from the state?" she said. "By not going down all the way, they can make a huge investment in the community. Two million dollars will do a lot for the school district ... All that money comes back in our community."
The ballot language could be confusing for some voters - for those in favor of supporting the total rate of $1.28 per $100 valuation, which is the lesser decrease in the rate, they should vote "for" the proposition. If a voter does not want the tax rate of $1.28 per $100 valuation, but rather the lower total rate of $1.15038 per $100 valuation, they should vote "against" the proposition.
Taxpayers who are eligible for the over 65 or disabled property tax exemption will not see an increase on their tax ceilings, according to PISD information.
Other school districts across the state are having similar elections in November, including Lindale ISD.
Mayo said he expects more school districts to have these elections.
"I hope the public will take a look at what we're trying to accomplish," he said.
Early voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through Nov. 2 at the PISD Administration Building, 1600 South Loop 256.
For more information, visit Palestine ISD's Web site at www.palestineschools.org and click on the link for "Tax Rate Election Information."
