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Over the past decade, Klein ISD’s tax rate has decreased, while its taxable value has increased due to rising appraisals and new property districtwide. FOLLOWING THE MONEY
growth over the last ve years of at least 10%, or a net increase of 3,400 or more students, according to the Fast Growth School Coalition. FGSC Executive Director Greg Smith said bonds are particularly important for fast-growing districts because new facilities and other capital projects can only be funded through a school district’s interest and sinking tax rate; the maintenance and operations tax rate can only be used to fund day-to- day operations, such as salaries and school supplies. “[There] are some things you can handle within your … maintenance and operations budget, but there are certain things you can’t handle [with that budget] if you’re a fast-growing school district,” Smith said. Since KISD’s last bond in 2015, the district has grown by nearly 11% to more than 54,200 students in the 2021-22 school year. KISD is the 16th-largest school district in Texas. According to Robert Robertson, KISD associate superintendent of facility and school services, through the district’s last three bond programs—which totaled $224 million in 2004, $646.9 million in 2008 and $498.1 million in 2015—KISD has built 20 new campuses, including two campus rebuilds, and four districtwide support facilities. McGown said the district’s original long-range plan when preparing the 2015 bond was to hold another bond election in 2020. “Of course, nobody could have imag- ined what the world would be like in 2020, and so, thankfully, through the collective e orts of our district and our community working in partnership, we were able to really manage the 2015 bond program so that we could extend it a bit,” McGown said. “But certainly,
taxes will increase. In compliance, KISD has four prop- ositions on the ballot—one general purpose and three special purpose. Proposition A—an $843.8 million general-purpose proposition—aims to address growth and capacity chal- lenges with the construction of Inter- mediate School No. 11 and classroom additions at Klein Cain and Klein Oak high schools. Superintendent Jenny McGown noted ocials are consid- ering two district-owned sites for the campus—either near Bernhausen or Fox elementary schools. Also included in Proposition A are safety and security improvements; the purchase of new school buses; upgraded academic, arts and athletic spaces; and the comprehensive mod- ernization of eight aging campuses. “One thing I’m very proud of is that the volunteer bond steering com- mittee that put this bond proposal together really was passionate about making sure that every student in every school in every part of our dis- trict is going to benet from all four propositions,” McGown said. Among the special-purpose propo- sitions, Proposition B would allocate $51.5 million for classroom technol- ogy, while Proposition C would allot $131.3million to build a district events center. Proposition D would allot $75.2 million to build a sec- ond stadium and renovate Klein Memorial Stadium. If approved, the new district events center and stadium would be built on district-owned land adjacent to the Klein Multipurpose Center. Fast-growth district KISD is one of nearly 70 districts statewide identied as a fast-growth district—a district with enrollment
Maintenance and operations tax rate:
Interest and sinking tax rate:
A portion of a local school district’s tax rate that raises revenue to be used to operate and maintain the district’s schools.
The part of the tax rate used by districts to pay for voter-approved bonded indebtedness, usually construction of facilities.
KLEIN ISD HISTORICAL TAX RATES PER $100 VALUATION
$0
$0.25
$0.50
$0.75
$1
$1.25
$1.50
$0.35 $0.37 $0.39 $0.39
$1.04 $1.04 $1.04 $1.04 $1.06 $0.97
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
$0.37
2018-19
2019-20
$0.39 $0.38
$0.9573 $0.9201
2020-21
$0.38
2021-22
$1.30*
2022-23* 2023-24*
$1.33*
*ESTIMATED TAX RATE IF ALL FOUR PROPOSITIONS PASS; THE M&O TAX RATE HAS NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED AS IT IS SET BY THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY AND KLEIN ISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES ANNUALLY.
The passage of all four bond propositions could result in a tax rate increase of $0.03 per $100 of valuation, or about $69 more per year in property taxes for an average Klein ISD home valued at $255,000 .
Klein ISD’s taxable value— calculated by the Harris County Appraisal District—is anticipated to increase to $27.4 billion by 2024; the district’s taxable value in 2015 was $17.6 billion .
SOURCES: KLEIN ISD, HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT, TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
said recent changes made to the bond process by the Texas Legislature may pose new challenges for the 2022 propositions. The bond may also result in a property tax rate increase. Proposition breakdown Following the conclusion of the
86th Texas Legislature in 2019, sev- eral changes were made to the Texas Education Code that a ect school district bonds. Districts are now required to separate projects into general-purpose and special-purpose propositions as well as include ballot language notifying voters if property
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