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ALTAIR — The Rice Consolidated Independent School District board of trustees approved a 3.6% tax rate decrease for the eighth year in a row and also approved its budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year with a $285,000 deficit following hearings, Monday, Aug. 24.
Tax rate
The adopted 2026-2027 fiscal year property tax rate is $0.80910 per $100 valuation, a 3.6% decrease from last year’s rate of $0.8396. The rate is comprised of $0.66690 for maintenance and operations and $0.14220 for debt service. This rate is the voter-approval rate, or the highest rate the district can adopt before requiring an election.
This rate will generate $7,732 in local revenue per student, a decrease of $61 per student. Taxes due on the average residence increased $44, or 13.6%, from $323 to $367.
The average market value increased 0.4% from $162,883 to $163,488. The average taxable value of residences also increased this year by 17.9% from $38,499 to $45,407.
Budget
The district’s budget increased slightly by 1.7% to a total of around $20.2 million and includes a deficit of $285,000. The budget calculates a rate of $623 in expenditures per pupil, compared to last fiscal year’s $537.
Superintendent Kenny Center said changes to this year’s budget included increases for teacher compensation, deferred maintenance, instructional materials and operating expenses.
“This doesn’t mean that when we close out the fiscal year in August of 2027 it will be a deficit budget,” Center said. “...The district will have to be mindful of spending expenses and continue to monitor areas where we can save money.” Center added that the district adopted a deficit budget last fiscal year but ended with it being balanced. According to the Texas Association of School Business Officials in April, 44% of school districts in the state were running deficit budgets halfway through the 2025-2026 fiscal year, a decrease from the midpoint a year prior.
“The district does have a healthy fund balance, which is the same as a savings account to al low the district to operate, but at the same time, the district doesn’t want to have to always rely on pulling money from the fund balance,” Center said.
The budget does not factor in the proposed $55 million bond for the construction of a new consolidated elementary school, district renovations, and the expansion of the bus fleet. If approved in the November election, the bond will increase the district’s tax rate by $0.303 per $100 valuation.
“If the bond is approved, this would be held separate from the adopted budget as it would come from the Interest and Sinking portion, which is different from the maintenance and operations budget, which is what the board approved,” Center said.
Under the bond, a homeowner with the district’s median valuation of $151,240 and a $140,000 homestead exemption would pay an additional $2.83 per month. Homeowners with an over-65 homestead exemption will not see an increase in their district tax rates.
