The Austin ISD school board is asking voters in November to approve a higher property tax that would raise the district’s revenue by tens of millions of dollars. That money could give more than 60% of employees a raise and reduce the district’s budget deficit to $78 million. Austin ISD officials have said the main reason for the district’s deficit is that State funding for public schools has not kept pace with inflation.

Trustees voted 8-1 on Monday to call a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) to seek voter approval to raise the tax rate beyond the level set by the state.

School Board Vice Chairman Kevin Foster was the only one to oppose the bill, saying Texas has a budget surplus but is “systematically starving public education.”

Foster pointed out that a successful VATRE would generate about $171 million in new revenue for Austin ISD, but the district would only keep $41 million. The rest would be subject to clawback, also known as Robin Hood Programwhich was set up to redirect what the state sees as surplus revenue from real estate-rich districts to districts with low real estate values.

“When we vote in this tax rate election, we are voting to fill the state coffers and use them to do things that do not serve us,” Foster said.

Other trustees said while they understand Foster’s stance, Austin ISD needs financial help, and fast. The district is currently battling a $119 million deficit with no tax increases or other budget cuts planned.

“I will be voting for (the VATRE) for many of the same reasons you are voting against it,” board secretary Lynn Boswell told Foster. “Because we have a state that is choosing to starve our public schools, in a city that values ​​our public schools very much.”

Trustee David Kauffman said he also supports the tax increase, but believes it is important that the public ultimately decide whether to approve it.

“I’m voting today for an election that allows our voters in Austin to make that decision,” he said. “I’ve heard from enough people who are against it and enough people who are for it that tell me this is something that is, thankfully, a direct vote of our community.”

How high is the tax rate increase?

The Austin ISD school board is asking voters to raise the tax rate by 9.1 cents, from nearly $0.86 to $0.95 per $100 of a home’s taxable value. District officials said this would mean the owner of a home valued at $553,493 would see their property tax increase by an additional $34 per month.

According to the districtHomeowners who are exempt from property taxes due to their 65th year of life or a disability are not affected by the tax increase.

School Board Chair Arati Singh stressed that Austin ISD will also make budget cuts and will not rely solely on property owners to bear the burden of the deficit. She said if VATRE is successful, the district plans to cut two dollars from the budget for every dollar it collects from the higher tax rate.

Salary increases for employees

If voters approve a new tax rate on Nov. 5, Austin ISD plans to use more than $17 million of that new revenue to raise the salaries of about 6,500 employees. If the VATRE fails, Austin ISD employees will receive one-time incentive payments of $500 for full-time employees and $250 for part-time employees.

Members of Education Austin, a union that represents Austin ISD employees, attended Monday’s meeting to voice their support for VATRE. The group’s president, Ken Zarifis, said the Texas Legislature’s inaction on increasing funding for public schools has put Austin ISD in this position.

“Regardless of what this state does or does not do in this (upcoming) legislative session, we must come together as a community and say we love our schools, we love our children,” he said.

Karen Reyes, a special education teacher at AISD and member of Education Austin, said it was important to her to attend the meeting and advocate for VATRE.

“At the core of it, it’s about, ‘Do we trust that our communities will take care of us like we take care of their students?’ I do,” Reyes said. “Because I truly believe that the people of Austin, who have always had our backs, know that we’re not just asking for money for frivolous things.”

Margarita Acuña Mintzer, a mother of two children in Austin ISD, says teachers are counting on voters’ support for VATRE.

“Go home and ask your kids, ‘How much of a raise do you think your teacher deserves?’ And I tell you, they’ll give you the highest amount they can find,” she said. “It’s time for adults to do the right thing for our kids.”

Other districts are in the same boat

On the same night that the Austin ISD school board called a tax rate election, voted to put a VATRE on the November 5 ballotThis district is faced with a budget deficit of nearly $21 million.

Unlike AISD, the revenue Manor ISD hopes to receive from a successful tax rate election is non-refundable. The district wants to use the $4.8 million it would receive to offer all employees an additional 2% raise on top of the 1% provided in the 2024-25 budget. The funds would also be used to pay for new school police officers and social workers.

Last year, Pflugerville ISD and Lockhart ISD asked voters to approve new tax rates to fund employee raises and cover costs. According to the Texas Association of Schools Boards, more than 50 school districts statewide have called a VATRE in 2023.