Nixon-Smiley CISD to hold public hearing on budget, tax rate

Nixon-Smiley Consolidated ISD will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26, to discuss the school district’s proposed budget and the proposed tax rate of $1.1046 per $100 valuation. Public participation is invited.

The proposed budget is expected to increase total expenditures by about 25.87 percent. This includes a 22.97 percent increase in maintenance and operations expenses and a 31.94 percent increase in bonded indebtedness.

The district currently has $38,004,000 in outstanding principal on its unpaid bonded indebtedness, which came from its 2023 bond issue.

The board is proposing to adopt a maintenance and operations tax rate of 67.69 cents per $100 valuation and a debt service rate of 43.68 cents, which is still expected to generate $23,779 in local revenue per student compared to the state contribution of $600 per student. The state contribution is down $100 per student from 2023-24, while the local revenue per student has risen by $2,719 per student.

Last year, the district had a maintenance and operations tax rate of 86.46 cents per $100 valuation and a debt service rate of 28.54 cents as the district had a total taxable value of more than $1.78 billion. Property values for the district increased to more than $2.31 billion this current tax year. The average market value of residences in the district improved from $119,338 to $130,362. The average taxable value of a residence is expected to be about $28,330, which will lead to an anticipated increase of taxes due on an average house of about $312.93, which averages out to $26.08 per month more.

The district expects to finish the year with unencumbered fund balances of $4,674,197 in its M&O fund and $2,662,167 in its debt service fund.