Ysleta ISD Asking Voters Help To Raise Funds
EL PASO, TX. – The Ysleta Independent School District has an important election coming up and millions of dollars are at stake.
The YsletaISD was the only district in the county that did not raise taxes by adding the four cents allowed by the state during the 2006-2007 school year and that means all the other districts in El Paso County are now receiving state matching funds, andYISD is not. The district wants to change that, and they need the community’s support.
Monday night at Del Valle High School, the district held one of seven townhouse meetings for parents, community members andYISD students to come out and learn about the upcoming tax rollback election. District officials talked about how they have raised salaries and increased costs without increasing taxes for the last four years. Back on August 6th of2007, the Ysleta Board of Trustees approved a tax rate of $1.17 for school resources, supplies and salaries and 16 cents to pay for bond debt, for a total tax rate of $1.33 per $100 valuation.
YISD taxpayers must now decide whether or not to approve this tax rate. “I think this is an effort that we as a school district are supporting 100%. We see the need of our faculty and staff as well as our students and the benefit they can reap from this opportunity. We went to court, we sued the state, we won in theSupreme Court for our children to have more opportunities, this is not a tax increase for our taxpayers,” said YISD Superintendent, Hector Montenegro.
This tax-rate will be 21 cents lower thanthe 2006rate andYISD taxpayers will still be paying the lowest school property taxes among the big three districts in the county. YISD would gain $9 million in local revenue and $27 million in state matching funds for a total of $36 million dollars; money they say would go towards the expansion of the fine arts and sports programs, 15 new school buses and competitive pay scale for employees, among other things. Election day is Monday, October 8th.
