San Marcos CISD Voted On Budget And Tax Rate

On Monday evening, the San Marcos CISD Board of Trustees and school board approved their new budget and the tax rate.

The district’s new Fiscal Year 2017 budget of $69.4 million will leave a deficit of $3.9 million.

The Trustees passed the budget by a 5-2 vote with John McGlothlin and Kathy Hansen voting against approval.

During the same meeting, the Trustee’s did not raise the current tax rate from last year at $1.4141, but SMCISD will be receiving more money than last year.

Karen Griffith, assistant superintendent of business and support, stated that last years tax rate of 1.48 percent would remain the same but the district would be receiving more revenue funding over last year is due to more people paying into Hays County.

For the last several years, the Hays County Appraisal District has raised property values throughout Hays County. It has been reported those values have been raised from 1 percent to well over 10 percent in some cases.

The rate with the additional revenue would assist with paying down the debt the taxpayers were on the hook for and saving on the interest, according to Griffith.

“The whole premise of this was to save the taxpayers money,” Griffith said. “The benefit is that you’re not having to pay that interest.”

The final vote on the tax rate was a 6-1 vote with McGlothlin as the single holdout.

McGlothlin said he was opposed to the tax rate as it puts the burden of the rise in funding back on the taxpayers, who are paying the higher property tax values.