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The Wylie ISD School Board approves the budget and tax rate
The Wylie ISD School Board approved a property tax increase of about 26 cents Monday, so taxpayers will have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay their tax bills.
Trustees approved the district's new tax rate and budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year during a special meeting.
The School Board approved a rate of $1.1506 per $100 of property valuation, according to the resolution.
The rate breaks down to $0.6669 for maintenance and operations and $0.4837 for paying principal and interest on the debts.
The tax rate for last year was set at $0.89, according to WISD tax documents.
In 2023, the M&O rate was $0.6692, and the interest and sinking rate to generate tax revenue for debt repayment was $0.2208.
“So much of what's going on right now with school finances has been dictated to us,” Superintendent Joey Light said.
The maximum levy rate is given to the district by the state, and if the school district doesn't follow the maximum rate, either higher or lower, the state penalizes it, Light said.
The state of Texas M&O rate is $0.6669.
“Just as a reminder because we've been looking at bond elections and in order to adequately fund our bond debt, we're really dependent on the tax assessment district to make sure we've accounted for our $100,000 property (the exemptions), our tax cuts, All those things have a tough job,” Light said.
The district relies on Gary Earnest, the chief appraiser in the Taylor County Central Appraisers District, and his team to know exactly what to do since there are so many moving parts, Light said.
“So this year we're going to go with the exact I&S rate that Gary recommended that we have to meet those bond payments,” he said.
The total tax rate is lower than it was in 2020, and the M&O rate is the lowest it's ever been, Light said.
“The state of Texas is contributing dollars to compress the property tax rate across the state so that we all benefit and that's a good thing,” he said.
The School Board also approved a roughly $64 million budget for 2024-2025.
The proposed budget shows $48 million in the general fund, $3 million for food service and $13.3 million to repay debt, such as bond issues.
“I think as we continue to see growth, you know, it just seems like we continue to see bigger and bigger budgets,” Light said.
