BALLOT LANGUAGE

How is there no tax increase?

The State of Texas provides two tax rates for school districts: the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) to provide for daily operations like salaries, fuel, utilities, maintenance, etc. and the Interest and Sinking (I&S) to provide capital investments like renovation of school buildings. La Porte ISD’s appraisal growth, largely from commercial property, will generate the funds to cover the cost of the bond payments over the next 30 years and not require a tax rate increase to the I&S tax rate for residents in La Porte ISD.

In 2019, Texas Legislators passed a new law as part of HB 3 that requires all bond propositions for any school district to have the phrase “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE” on the ballot. Due to this requirement, all voters will see this statement on the official ballot language, regardless of the bond’s impact on the district’s tax rate.