Two Fort Worth-area districts will ask voters this fall to approve a 3-cent bump to their property tax rates.
Northwest and Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISDs are making different pitches with a similar goal: Keep class sizes manageable and staff paid competitively, without raising most homeowners’ overall tax bills compared with last year.
Early voting runs Oct. 20 to Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 4.
The proposals would increase the two districts’ maintenance-and-operations rate — the portion of the tax that funds day-to-day operations such as salaries, classroom supplies and utilities.
Northwest ISD’s tax rate measure would generate at least $12 million, officials said. About $8 million would reduce class sizes and restore funding for positions cut last school year and $4 million would help fund future compensation for teachers and staff.
Meanwhile, HEB ISD projects its measure would raise about $12 million to maintain programs and salaries and help close a current year budgeting shortfall of anywhere from $15 million to $18 million.
Both systems note they’re competing with neighboring districts whose voters have already approved similar tax rate increases, giving them extra local revenue that stays in their schools instead of being sent back to the state.
Of Tarrant County’s 20 districts, only Northwest, HEB and Carroll ISDs have not yet secured those voter-approved cents.
Carroll ISD is also asking voters this fall to approve its own 3-cent increase.
Northwest ISD points to visible cuts after last year’s failed vote
Northwest ISD voters narrowly rejected a similar proposal last November.
The failure forced the district to trim $16 million from its budget, primarily by increasing class sizes and reducing positions across fine arts, athletics and elementary support programs.
The effects of those cuts are now visible on campuses, officials said.
“We can’t put it all back,” Jonathan Pastusek, the district’s chief financial officer, told the Fort Worth Report. “So we’re trying to get at least halfway there and in some cases more than halfway there of what was reduced.”
If the measure passes, officials plan to lower student-teacher ratios in second through fourth grades and reduce middle and high school teachers’ daily student loads.
The proposed maintenance-and-operations rate would be 66.31 cents per $100 of taxable property. The total tax rate would be $1.0841 — slightly below the 2024-25 tax rate of $1.0879.
If voters reject the proposal, the total rate would fall to $1.0541.
The district’s debt-service rate, which pays for long-term construction projects, is expected to remain 42.1 cents, Pastusek said.
Even with the voter-approved increase, most homeowners would see lower school property tax bills than in 2024 because the state automatically lowers school tax rates as property values rise.
An expected $40,000 increase to the state homestead exemption — which Texans will also vote on in November — would further reduce taxable value of property.
That caveat, Northwest leaders acknowledge, is confusing for voters. The key point is that the district’s revenue boost would go directly to classrooms, even as its overall tax rate falls, Pastusek said.
Without the extra three pennies, it’s harder to match teacher pay while enrollment growth continues, Northwest ISD officials said.
“Our costs have gone up dramatically while our revenue per student is staying the same,” Pastusek said.
HEB ISD frames request as ‘maintaining what we have’
HEB ISD’s pitch centers on stability.
Years of flat state funding and rising costs left the district little choice but to seek new revenue from voters, Superintendent Joe Harrington told the Report.
“We held out as long as we could. We kept the taxes as low as long as we could, but we couldn’t balance the budget without it any longer,” Harrington said.
Unlike Northwest, HEB ISD has not cut programs or positions ahead of the vote — a decision leaders attribute to long-range planning and healthy reserves.
The district has a $15 million to $18 million budget shortfall this year. The voter-approved tax proceeds are needed to keep offerings intact and stay competitive on pay next school year.
“This is what we need to maintain what we have,” Harrington said.
HEB ISD’s maintenance-and-operations rate would rise from 67.26 cents to 70.26 cents per $100 of taxable property.
The district’s debt service rate is also expected to increase 3 cents to about 32.63 cents as a result of the 2023 voter-approved bond.
Together, the two rates would bring HEB ISD’s total tax rate to $1.0289 per $100 valuation.
If voters reject the bump, the total rate would instead be 99.89 cents per $100 valuation.
While the ballot must legally label the proposal a “tax increase,” district officials said most homeowners are expected to see slightly lower school property tax bills next year because of continued state tax compression and the expected increase to the homestead exemption.
Harrington is careful not to make threats about what would be cut if the measure fails, but acknowledges “something is going to have to change” if new revenue doesn’t materialize.
HEB also draws a distinction between its operating ask and recent bond spending.
District finance staff noted they timed and structured recent bond sales to reduce interest costs for taxpayers — savings that don’t increase the district’s operating revenue but, they argue, demonstrate local stewardship.
Voter confusion, slower growth and high turnout make approval tougher
Both districts’ elections are occurring in a broader environment where passage has become more difficult.
Leaders point to complex ballot language, confusion over compression and exemptions, slower property-value growth in some areas and the perception that rising home values automatically mean districts are “flush” with cash.
Northwest officials also say higher turnout cycles — like last year’s presidential election — have coincided with lower success rates.
Harrington’s closing appeal is straightforward.
“We’re straight shooters,” he said. “We hope that when you see HEB ISD, the voters trust HEB ISD.”
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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