The VISD Board of Trustees called a series of community meetings where a Facility Committee toured Veribest ISD buildings and established a list of priorities. After reviewing the financial standing of the District, the impact of the incoming solar farm(s), campus classroom capacity and potential project costs, the committee settled on a recommendation to construct an elementary addition and, as District taxable values allow, renovations and/or additions to the secondary campus to enable the removal of portable buildings. The Committee’s recommendation included the calling of a bond election for May 7th, 2022 and the Veribest ISD Board of Trustees unanimously accepted.

A bond is similar to a home mortgage. It is a contract to repay borrowed money with an interest rate over time. Bonds are sold by a school district to competing lenders to raise funds to pay for the costs of construction, renovations, and equipment.

Most school districts in Texas utilize bonds to finance renovations and new facilities. This bond would allow the district to finance improvements and new schools without needing to cut regular budget items like school programs, teachers, and staff. Since school buildings sometimes serve the community for 50 or more years, it is well reasoned that taxpayers would pay for them over a period of 25 to 30 years and not from the district's annual operating budget.

Bond funds can be used to pay for new buildings, additions and renovations to existing facilities, land acquisition, technology infrastructure and equipment, for new or existing buildings, and large-ticket items such as school buses. Bonds cannot be used for salaries or operating costs such as utility bills, supplies, building maintenance, fuel, and insurance.

School districts are required by state law to ask voters for permission to sell bonds to investors in order to raise the capital dollars required to renovate existing buildings or build a new school. Essentially, it’s permission to take out a loan to build, renovate, and pay that loan back over an extended period of time, much like a family takes out a mortgage loan for their home. A school board calls a bond election so voters can decide whether or not they want to pay for proposed facility projects.

The Board of Trustees accepted the Committee’s recommendation and called a bond in the amount of $15.5 million.

The Veribest ISD Board of Trustees sought opinions and ideas from the community through a series of meetings over many months. During that time the Committee reviewed the financial standing of VISD, toured and assessed all Veribest ISD campuses, established priorities, and reviewed associated costs. The Committee settled on a recommendation, which the Board accepted.

The bond scope consists of two phases of construction. The first phase construction of an elementary classroom addition with the intent of increasing the amount of academic space within the campus to allow the District to reduce the number of portable buildings.
Phase two of the project will include renovations and/or additions at the secondary campus to address aging portions of the current building.  

A school district’s tax rate is comprised of two components: the Maintenance & Operations tax (M&O) and the Interest & Sinking tax (I&S). The M&O rate is used to operate the school district, including salaries, utilities, furniture, supplies, food, gas, etc. The I&S rate is used to pay off school construction bonds. Bond sales only affect the I&S rate.

Due to State-mandated tax-rate compression and good management by VISD, the current tax-rate is the lowest it has been in over 20 years.

See the historical tax rate

It is a limit on the amount of taxes you must pay on your residence. If you qualify your residence homestead for an age 65 or older or disabled person homestead exemption for school district taxes, the school district taxes on that homestead cannot increase as long as you own and live in that home. The tax ceiling is the amount you pay in the year that you qualified for the age 65 or older or disabled person exemption. The school district taxes on your homestead may go below but not above the ceiling amount. If you improve the homestead (other than normal repairs or maintenance), the tax ceiling may go higher because of the new additions. For example, if you add on a garage or game room to the house after you have established a tax ceiling, the ceiling will be adjusted to a higher level to reflect the value of that addition.

NO TAX INCREASE on homesteads for those having an Age 65 Homestead Exemption Affidavit. For questions on how to apply, contact Tom Green CAD at (325) 658-5575 or at info@tomgreencad.com