Nixon-Smiley CISD proposes same tax rate

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Nixon-Smiley CISD is considering adopting a 2022 tax rate of $1.15 — the same as last year — following an Aug. 29 public hearing on the school district’s proposed budget.

The public is invited to attend the hearing and take part in discussion at 6 p.m. Aug. 29 in the Nixon-Smiley High School Library, 800 N. Rancho Road, Nixon.

Proposed tax rate

The school district is proposing a maintenance and operations tax rate of $0.8646 per $100 valuation, down nearly 11 cents from last year’s rate of $0.9734; however, the interest and sinking, or debt service, tax rate has been proposed at $0.2854 per $100 valuation, up from last year’s rate of $0.1766.

According to calculations by Gonzales County Tax Assessor-Collector Crystal Cedillo, the district has a voter-approval tax rate of $1.1529 per $100 valuation. This represents the highest tax rate the district could adopt without holding an election to seek voter approval.

This rate is calculated by determining three things: the district’s maximum compressed rate (MCR), the enrichment tax rate and the debt rate. The MCR is the tax rate for the current year at which the district much levy its maintenance and operations to receive the full amount of their Tier One funds from the state. The MCR for Nixon-Smiley CISD is $0.8046 per $100 valuation.

The enrichment rate is what the state allows the district to raise in addition to the MCR up to a total of $0.17 per $100 valuation. The first eight pennies are considered “golden,” and not subject to being compressed by the state, while the final nine pennies are “copper” and be compressed if the guaranteed yield to the district increases. The enrichment rate for Nixon-Smiley CISD is $0.06, bringing the total M&O rate to the proposed maximum of $0.8646 per $100 valuation.

The debt rate is the rate necessary to pay the school district’s debt payment for the coming year and accounts for principal and interest on bonds or any other debt secured by property tax revenue.

Nixon-Smiley is obligated to meet a debt payment of $3,830,055 for fiscal year 2023, which creates a maximum debt rate of $0.2883 per $100 valuation. However, the district decided to use some of its outstanding interest and sinking fund balance to pay for its debt, so they dropped the proposed debt rate to $0.2854 to make a total proposed tax rate of $1.15.

Total expenditures for Nixon-Smiley are expected to increase by about 9.42 percent, of which most of that falls under debt service spending, which will be up overall by 138.82 percent. Meanwhile, maintenance and operations spending, which includes the general fund and food service, is expected to decrease by about 4.61 percent.

Property values increase

While the majority of Nixon-Smiley CISD property lies in Gonzales County, the district also covers parts of Guadalupe, Karnes and Wilson counties as well. The total market value for N-SCISD is more than $2.55 billion, of which more than $2.37 billion is in Gonzales County, with nearly $119.9 million in Wilson County, $48 million in Guadalupe County and $8.6 million in Karnes County. Last year, the appraised market value of all property in N-SCISD was just under $1.94 billion, marking an increase of nearly $61.6 million.

The net taxable value for all property is just under $1.35 billion, with nearly $1.29 billion of that in Gonzales County, $51.4 million in Wilson County, $8.3 million in Guadalupe County and $1.5 million in Karnes County. Last year, the total taxable value was just $843.7 million for an increase in net taxable value of more than $503.7 million.

The average market value of a residence in Nixon-Smiley rose from $95,737 to $110,708, but the average taxable value fell by $7,434 from $48,734 to $41,300. This means the taxes due on the average residence will decrease by about $85.49 from $560.44 last year to $474.95 this year if the same tax rate of $1.15 per $100 valuation is approved.

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