A vote on a 3-cent property tax plan that would fund teacher hiring, salary increases, and fewer class sizes is scheduled for November 4th, according to Northwest school trustees.

At their meeting on August 12, the trustees unanimously called for the election, stating that it might bring in at least $12 million in additional revenue each year.

The decision follows the school board’s approval of a balanced $544 million budget that included raising class sizes in elementary and senior schools and eliminating roughly 100 positions.

Previously, Superintendent Mark Foust informed trustees that the changes will have an effect on the whole district, which has 31,000 students.

According to Foust, on August 4, people will physically enter a classroom to observe how many pupils are enrolled there. We have to make those structural cuts because we can’t put everything back in.

Regardless of the outcome of the election, the district’s overall tax rate for property owners would decrease, even though voters will be asked to approve a 3-cent tax hike. According to Northwest spokesperson Anthony Tosie, the law requires tax rate decreases based on yearly increases in property values.

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$4 million will go toward teacher salary, and $8 million would address student programming and class sizes if the rate is approved.

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Last year, voters in the Northwest rejected a similar tax rate rise.

The chief financial officer for Northwest ISD, Jonathan Pastusek, informed trustees on August 4 that the tax rate hike will partially reinstate a number of budget cuts, such as:

• Reinstating some of the eliminated 25 fine arts positions.
• Maintaining academic, athletics and fine arts programs.
• Paying for competitive compensation for teachers and other staff.

Recently, Texas lawmakers increased the baseline amount of funding districts receive per student and other factors by allocating almost $8.5 billion to public schools. Pastusek asserted that the increases were insufficient to sufficiently finance schools in the Northwest.

He informed the trustees that this is a state financial issue.

The early voting period runs from October 20 to October 31.

The deadline to register to vote in the November election is October 6.

How will Northwest ISD s tax rate change?

The proposal would raise the district’s maintenance-and-operations rate, which is a component of the overall property tax levy and covers daily operations.

The debt service rate, which covers long-term expenses like building, is the other portion of the tax. Pastusek anticipates that 42.1 cents will continue to be the debt service rate.

For every $100 of taxable property, the proposed maintenance-and-operations tax rate is 66.31 cents. There would be a $1.0841 total tax rate.

The maintenance-and-operations fee would be 63.31 cents if voters rejected the idea. A total of $1.0541 would be the tax.

The tax rate as of right now is $1.0879. The charge for operations and maintenance is 66.69 cents.According to Tosie, a $40,000 increase in the homestead exemption is anticipated to be presented to Texas voters in November, which will likely result in lower property tax bills for the majority of property owners regardless of the election’s results.

How will Northwest ISD change class sizes?

If the legislation is approved, administrators suggested hiring more teachers to reduce class sizes at all grade levels.

There are currently 24 pupils in classrooms ranging from the second to the fourth grade. District officials would be able to cut the number of pupils in the second grade to 22 and the third and fourth grades to 23 if they had more money.

There will still be 22 pupils in kindergarten and 25 in fifth grade.

Teachers of essential topics at middle and high schools will encounter 172.5 kids a day instead of 180 if voters approve the measure. It is anticipated that some middle school classes will have more than 36 pupils, while some high school courses may have more than 40.

The Fort Worth Report’s education editor is Jacob Sanchez. You can reach him at @_jacob_sanchez or at [email protected].

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Northwest ISD voters to consider 3-cent tax measure to reduce class sizes