This story has been updated.
Voters in Judson Independent School District said “no” to a 4.5-cent property tax increase.
Results show that 60% of voters opposed Judson ISD’s voter-approved tax rate election, also known as a VATRE, which was supposed to fund pay increases, academic programs and student support services.
The increase would’ve unlocked an extra $21 million annually under the maintenance and operations rate. If approved, the district’s tax rate would’ve gone from $1.03 to slightly under $1.08 per $100 of taxable property value.
Judson officials said the property tax increase would’ve also helped with the district’s $27 million deficit. Now, the district may have to consider consolidating schools, cutting programs and staff.
“It was very disheartening,” said Lilyana Contreras, a 17-year-old senior at Judson Early College Academy, in a phone interview on Tuesday night.
Though she couldn’t vote yet, Contreras advocated for the VATRE on social media and attended school board meetings to learn more about the proposition. Now, she’s concerned for current and future Judson students.
“We need our communities to be supported,” she said. “Students deserve an education that supports more than just academic needs… we can’t have that without things like student programs.”
In a Nov. 5 statement, Superintendent Robert Milton Fields said he was disappointed but respects the voters’ decision not to pass the VATRE.
“As a result, we will need to make decisions in the months ahead to control costs while maintaining essential programs and supports for our students and staff,” he said.
Most school districts across the state are dealing with budget deficits, and the base amount of state dollars per pupil hasn’t significantly increased since 2019.
In August, Texas lawmakers passed $8.5 billion for public schools in House Bill 2, but the bill requires that most of the state funding goes to pay raises for teachers with more than two years of experience, leaving newer teachers and staff like librarians and counselors out of the equation. School districts are also responsible for covering the costs of implementing teacher raises, keeping them strapped for cash.
The November ballot also included state propositions to increase homestead exemptions that apply to school district tax rates.
VATREs are a way districts can get more money from the state through a complicated mechanism called “golden pennies” — the state agrees to match taxpayers dollars depending on the district’s property values.
“What the state is going to look at is what the communities do to assist themselves,” Fields during a community meeting discussing public school funding said in October. “VATREs are a way for communities to assist themselves.”
On election night, district officials told the Report they would not comment on the results until the following morning.
Caroleena Mancilla, chair of the Together For Judson Public Schools PAC did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.