YISD Board of Trustees approves tax-rate decrease

The Ysleta Independent School District approved a 1.5-cent tax-rate decrease for 2017 during its regular meeting Wednesday night.

The 2017 tax rate of $1.46 per $100 of home valuation is a decrease from the $1.475 rate from 2016.

“We initially predicted we would have to increase the property tax rate significantly to fund a $430.5 million dollar bond that we asked our community to support back in November 2015,” said YISD Superintendent Dr. Xavier De La Torre.

District officials said the reduction in the tax rate is the result of favorable market conditions for the January 2016 and January 2017 bond sales.

“We were able to capitalize on incredibly low rates. We’ve been able to reduce the amount of property taxes that we need from our community to fund the $430.5 million bond,” De La Torre said.

De La Torre also pointed to additional state funding in the form of Existing Debt Allotment and Instructional Facilities Allotment.

“It’s a $430.5 million bond. But in terms of the burden to our community it’s a $215.25 million bond and that’s all they are being asked to pay for because the state is paying for the other half,” De La Torre said.

YISD Board President Connie Woodruff said the bond projects are on schedule.

“We had made a promise to our community that we would go out and deliver bond projects but not be cavalier in the way we spend the money, that we would be trustworthy. And this news just proves that we are fulfilling our commitment to do this,” Woodruff said.

“The tax-rate decrease for our community is another way we are fulfilling our promise to be good stewards of our citizens’ hard-earned tax dollars,” said De La Torre. “Every year, we strive to implement cost-effective strategies in our budgeting while still providing our nearly 42,000 students with a quality education.”

YISD is the only local school district that offers its homeowners ran additional homestead exemption of 20 percent of total home value.

The 2017 tax-rate decrease of one-and-a-half cents per hundred dollars of valuation, coupled with the additional homestead exemption will result in an average decrease in property taxes of $12 per year.