During Monday night’s meeting of the Brownwood ISD Board of Trustees, a proposed tax rate of .9669 cents per $100 valuation was presented. A formal vote on the tax rate will take place at a 12:15 p.m. meeting Thursday, Aug. 22.
BISD Superintendent Dr. Joe Young reminded the members of the Board of Trustees that the proposed tax rate could be lowered between now and Aug. 22, but could not be increased.
Both the 2023 and 2022 tax rates were just over $1.04, so the 2024 tax rate would signify an approximate 7.5 cent decrease. Young stated about 4.6 cents will come from the maintenance operation, or normal operating budget, and another 2.8 cents will come from interest and sinking, which is the payment on the debt from two bond programs.
“That money generated will continue to fund what we do here at the district,” Young said. “Since 2019 the state has set a cap on what the funding can be, so increased expenditures over that time have put us up against a pretty big wall as far as the money we have to spend. But we’re going to have kids showing up Wednesday that are counting on us and we’re going to be ready. We’re going to have teachers in the classroom, they’re going to have what they need to teach kids, we’re going to have a great school year. There’s been a little bit of a budget crunch over the past few years, but it’s something we’re going to work through and make it happen and I’m glad that we’re able to decrease the tax rate and still have the funds to do that. There’s a lot of places that aren’t able to do that, so we thank our community for providing for our schools and providing for our kids.”
Also Monday, the BISD Board of Trustees approved a call to order for a board election on Nov. 5. Seats up for grabs include Place 2, occupied by Diane Thompson; Place 4, occupied by Eric Evans; and Place 5, occupied by Codie Smith. Those interested in running can file until Aug. 19. If no one but the incumbents file, the election will be canceled. As of Monday, one candidate packet had been picked up, but no one other than incumbents had filed the paperwork to run.
Items passed on the Consent Agenda Monday included:
- Salary schedules
- Student code of conduct
- District and campus improvement goals
- DOI Teacher Certifications
- Updated T-TESS appraiser list
- Teacher appraisal calendar
- School district attorney retainer
- Public funds investment policy resolution
- Property/casualty insurance for 2024-25
- 4H adjunct facility agreement
- Adult meal prices
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Brownwood ISD Board of Trustees is Sept. 9.