Education
BY DANICA LLOYD
Property tax bills to increase for Cy-Fair ISD homeowners
Local property owners will pay an average of $10.44 more in taxes to Cy-Fair ISD in scal year 2024-25 than in FY 2023-24 as the board approved increasing the property tax rate in a 5-2 vote at an Oct. 7 meeting. This higher rate, which was recommended by district administration, is expected to bring an additional $33.9 million in revenue for FY 2024-25 as CFISD faces an estimated $77.5 million budget shortfall following budget cuts. Superintendent Doug Killian said this move would help the district avoid further budget cuts in FY 2025-26. The breakdown The board approved a property tax rate of $1.0869 per $100 valuation —up from $1.0811 per $100 valuation in FY 2023-24. Community Impact previously reported CFISD could take advantage of “disaster pennies” when adopting the FY 2024-25 tax rate. According to the state’s public school funding system, this enables
Cy-Fair ISD property tax rate per $100 valuation
$1.50 $1.00 $1.10 $1.20 $1.30 $1.40
$ 1.44
$ 1.0869
$ 1.37
2023-24 $ 1.0811
$0
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
2024-25
SOURCE: CYFAIR ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
districts to adopt a higher tax rate in the year following a disaster declaration to help them cover costs incurred by events such as hurricanes and oods without needing voter approval. CFISD will incorporate two disaster pennies into the tax rate after seeing a spike in insurance costs following a January 2023 tornado that hit south- east Harris County, Chief Financial Ocer Karen Smith said.
Those opposed One of the two opposing votes came from trustee Christine Kalmbach, who said she was against raising property taxes. Trustee Natalie Blasingame also opposed, saying she didn’t want to increase the tax rate unless the board reinstated bus service for all students. In June, the board unanimously approved reducing bus service as part of budget cuts.
BEN TAUB HOSPITAL LEVEL I TRAUMA CARE FOR ALL
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CYFAIR EDITION
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