El Paso voters reject 3 school districts’ tax increase proposals

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- On Tuesday, voters rejected three tax-increase proposals tied to El Paso County school districts. One district said the funding would have provided air conditioning for its students.

Results show that voters in the Ysleta, Socorro and Tornillo independent school districts rejected the voter-approval tax rate elections (VATRE), with a majority voting against each.

The YISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved the voter-approval tax rate election (VATRE) in August. It would have generated up to $5.5 million a year by moving some property tax revenue toward daily operations.

Superintendent Xavier De La Torre said the proposal could help the district address a multi-million-dollar deficit. The VATRE failed with 56% of voters voting against it.

SISD 's VATRE aimed to generate about $49 million annually to address rising costs and state funding gaps, supporting teacher pay, student programs and school safety, its superintendent said.

If approved, the average SISD homeowner would have had to pay roughly $10 more per month in taxes, though seniors and disabled homeowners with exemptions would not see an increase.

It failed with 57% of voters voting against it.

SISD issued the following statement Wednesday morning about the VATRE failing:

“To everyone in our community who took the time to cast a ballot, thank you,” Superintendent James Vasquez said. “This isn’t the result we were hoping for, but we will use this time to start planning our next steps.”

Prop A would have provided $49.2 million of new funding in the current fiscal year to support the district’s Maintenance & Operations instructional budget to fund teacher and staff compensation, student programs, safety and security, technology, and HVAC and bus replacements.

Without the additional funding, Socorro ISD will begin the process to identify more budget reductions while working to protect classroom instruction and student programs.

The cost-saving measures we’ve put in place so far aren’t enough, and we must now consider larger reductions,” Vasquez said. “We’ve managed our funds conservatively, passing two balanced budgets, but we will have to make some more difficult choices.”

Lastly, Tornillo ISD said its VATRE aimed to collect funds to support daily operations as well. The proposal said it would generate roughly $237,000. It failed, with 70% of voters voting against it.

Find the full results on the Nov. 3 elections here.