By Michael V. Hannigan
It is time for many local entities to start looking at their budgets for next year and that includes Athens ISD.
The Athens ISD School Board will be holding a public meeting 6 p.m. Monday, June 23, at the administration building to discuss the proposed budget and property tax rate for next year.
The proposed tax rate is $1.196470, which is one penny higher than last year.
Here are 5 things you should know about the tax rate.
1. Breakdown: The Athens ISD tax rate is broken down into two funds: Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and Interest and Sinking (I&S). Basically the I&S fund is for the school district’s debt while the M&O is for operations. Under the proposal, the M&O is 1.037380 per $100 valuation and the I&S is .159090 per $100 valuation.
2. History: Prior to this year’s proposed penny increase, the AISD tax rate has been the same for five consecutive years.
3. Increase: The penny increase in the tax rate comes in the I&S fund and will be used for the district’s debt. According to AISD Superintendent Blake Stiles, “The primary reason for the need to raise the I&S rate by one penny is because property values have not risen at the rate expected.”
4. Shortfall: The M&O rate will stay the same, however according to to the AISD documentation that will not be enough to “maintain the same level of maintenance and operations” as last year. Stiles said, “That tax rate cannot be changed without a tax ratification election, which we have no intention of conducting at this time.”
5. Challenge: How does Athens ISD get by with effectively less spending power than it had last year?
Stiles answered: “We have been working diligently to squeeze all the value we can from our operation funds. Most districts, including ours, spend around 75 percent of that portion of the budget on salaries. That means that by the time we purchase items like school buses and fuel there is very little left for discretionary spending. Facility upgrades and routine maintenance can also be a challenge when you use M&O funds to cover the costs. Luckily for us, the AISD Board of Trustees have been responsible with the taxpayers’ money and we have a healthy fund balance that we can dip into from time to time. However, the state recommends that we maintain three months worth of funding in that account in case we need it in emergency situations.”
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