TEMPLE, Texas — For the third consecutive year, Temple ISD Board of Trustees voted Monday night to lower the district's tax rate; this time by 4.8 cents, which is the lowest for the district since 2010.
The new tax rate has been set at $1.2353 for the upcoming school year, which included $0.9287 designated for maintenance and $0.30666 intended for debt service.
In the last three years, Temple ISD has lowered its tax rate by nearly 16.5 cents.
The district is also operating at 6.4 cents under the state's allowed cap for maintenance.
According to the district, it credits its lower taxes to, "tax rate compression, an increase in property values within the district and bond refinancing that help lower debt service costs."
The Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations, Kent Boyd is proud of the district's numbers.
“We have been able to operate our services at the level of quality our community expects, while still being efficient and respectful of our taxpayer’s dollars,” said Boyd. "We elected to operate at a lower figure for maintenance and operations while many districts in the state asked for the maximum amount.”
Superintendent of Temple ISD, Dr. Bobby Ott, also pointed out the importance of again lowering the tax rate. This will affect the upcoming bond proposal that will be featured in the November ballot.
“Over the past three years, we have been able to drop our tax rate low enough to afford a successful bond election and still have a total tax rate that is four cents lower than our 2018 tax rate,” Ott said. “This illustrates the perfect balance of moving our schools forward, preparing for growth, and upholding our fiscal responsibility to the citizens of Temple.”