RRISD reduces tax rate by a .01 (Austin, Round Rock: 2013, home, school)

[hound 109]

Pretty savvy political (marketing) move. Announce that you're lowering the rate.....(.01), while the average home goes up 5-10% in value. My bonehead math suggests that on a 300K (tax valued) home, the .01 reduction represents $30 bucks per year savings.

But if the home goes up in value (& is appraised) up to 320K then the actual tax would increase by $235 per year if the home went up in value by 20K. So actually a net higher tax of about $20 per month (on your payment)....but the politicos slap themselves on the back saying that they've "lowered" taxes.

300K X .0138 = $4140 (current)

320K X .013674 = $4375 (new)

The Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees adopted a tax rate of $1.3674 for the 2013-14 school year during their regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 19. The rate is comprised of $1.0400 for general operating and $0.3274 for debt service, which is lower than last year’s rate of $0.34. Overall, the new rate is a decrease from last year’s rate of $1.38. The budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year was adopted on June 20, 2013.

I don't have a huge beef (with the above or with RRISD) because I've got a kid attending a fine school & getting a great education.....but when he graduates, I'm bailing. I'll dump my current 8K per year total tax bill for a pokey area with a total tax bill of 2.5-3K.
.

[EzPeterson]

Better than the alternative I guess!

[atxcio]

That's pretty much going on with all most local entities right now. Travis County is doing the same, I think even the city of Austin "rate" is going down. It's not really a political move.

It's technically not a tax decrease (and they won't call it that) but it's still been a few years since the rates have gone down. Last time it was in a similar boom where property values were shooting up... maybe 2007/08?

For me and many others, it's still a good thing since I always protest my property values. This year's appraised rate (after protest) is the same as last year, so for me the taxes will actually be less due to the rate decrease.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by EzPeterson

Better than the alternative I guess!

Yeah...I'm not b*tching, just informing since I received the email this morning. A lot of folks look at the "rate", I'm more interested in the actual tax paid.

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by hound 109

Yeah...I'm not b*tching, just informing since I received the email this morning. A lot of folks look at the "rate", I'm more interested in the actual tax paid.

If WilCo passes that huge bond package, well - we're all screwed.

[CptnRn]

Ha HA very clever, RRISD reduces taxes !!!

[ScoPro]

At least my school taxes are "frozen".

[Tralfaz]

Man it's nice to be in an unincorporated area.. ~2.08% total rate from 4 entities..