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Posted: 02/25/2005
This is information we posted for the RRISD 2005 School Bond Election which was not approved by the voters.
What is a bond election?
A bond election is held by a government, in this case our school district (RRISD), to ask the voters to authorize borrowing money from investors (sell bonds to investors) for capital improvement projects. If the voters approve of the RRISD bond issue, they are authorizing RRISD to borrow $349 Million. RRISD then pledges repayment of those bonds, plus interest, through increased property taxes collected over a specified number of years. Texas law allows up to 40 years for repayment of school bonds. According to RRISD, they have typically issued bonds with maturity dates of 20-25 years.
How much is this going to cost me as a property owner?
The district’s total bond debt will be $650,000,000 if this bond issue should pass and all the bonds are sold. Taxpayers will see an assessed DEBT tax rate of $0.45/$100 valuation. The debt rate is limited by the state to $0.50/$100.
The debt rate is only a part of the total tax rate you pay to the school district. Presently, the total tax rate is $1.86/$100 of assessed property value. That total tax rate for RRISD property taxes rose 15 cents from $1.71/$100 in 2000 (the date of the last bond issue).
According to the RRISD website, the current $349 Million bond issue, if passed, will cost the owner of a median value home, on average, $4 per month for the next three years. Or, said with rounder numbers, there will be an increase of almost $50 per year so that in three years, that median value home will see an increase of approximately $150 in school district property taxes.
By 2007 about $700 of your annual school taxes will be paying just for bond debt. Click here to read more on this.
This, of course, does not reflect expected property value increases.
What kinds of projects are included in bonds?
By law, only a project defined as a “capital improvement project” can be funded by a bond. Taxpayers should know what is in this bond proposal. To view a list of the projects and their accompanying amount, go to:
http://www.roundrockisd.org/docs/proposed_scheduling_bond2005.pdf
Usually projects included in a bond election should be the type of project that is sensible to pay off over a 20 to 30 year period. For example, if this was your home mortgage, you wouldn’t include towels, dishes, televisions or computers in your 30 year mortgage because none of those items last 20 to 30 years. The same should be true of items included in school district bond elections.
Is current property tax information available online?
Yes! You may not know this, but you can view your RRISD property tax amount online through the school district’s website. This is only the school district portion of the property tax. Other property taxes are in addition to this amount. Go to:
https://actweb.acttax.com/act_webdev/rrock/index.jsp
Wasn’t the Texas Legislature ordered to find a school funding solution?
Senator Kent Grusendorf has presented House Bill 2:
Click here to view Senator Grusendorf's comments (in PDF format)
Significant among the points in this bill are:
- all school districts will receive 3% more of the state funding dollars
- school districts can ask voters to approve a “local enrichment tax”, allowing districts to get an additional ten cents.
- View actual text of the bill here.
Can I vote early?
Yes, from February 16 – March 1, 2005
Where are the Early Voting locations?
- RRISD Administration Building – 1311 Round Rock Avenue (The Administration Bldg faces Hwy 620, in front of Round Rock High School)
- Grisham Middle School – 10805 School House Lane, Austin
- Albertson’s – 13401 N. Highway 183, Austin
- Robert and Helen Griffith Public Library – 216 E. Main Street, Round Rock
- United Heritage Conference Center – 3400 E. Palm Valley Drive, Round Rock
- Clay Madsen Recreation Center – 1600 Gattis School Road, Round Rock
When are the polls open for Early Voting?
On weekdays – 8 AM to 5 PM
Exceptions:
Monday, February 28 and Tuesday, March 1, the polls will remain open until 7 PM
Saturday, February 19 and 26 – polls will be open from 8 AM to Noon
For more information:
To view the county’s tax roll information on your property, go to Williamson County’s Appraisal District: www.wcad.org
Do you have a question about property or other taxes? This is a website that has more links and info than most of us will ever need! From the Window on State Government:
www.cpa.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/proptax.html
We hope this information has been of help to you!
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