At its August 12 Special Meeting, the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to call a voter-approved tax ratification election (VATRE) that will be on the November 5 ballot.
Registered voters residing within the GCISD boundaries will be asked to consider a three-cent increase to the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) tax rate that would generate approximately $6 million in funding for school district operations, including instruction, staff, transportation, maintenance, extracurricular activities and other daily operating expenses, excluding projects included in the recent bond. Bonds are paid for by a separate Interest & Sinking (I&S) fund, which is debt service.
Despite opening with a record $32.7 billion state budget surplus, the 88th Legislative session closed with no additional increase to per-student funding for Texas public schools. Since 2019, there has been no increase by lawmakers to the basic allotment for school districts despite inflation soaring to 19 percent, additional state mandates that are not fully funded, and continuing recapture, otherwise known as “Robin Hood,” payments that some school districts, like GCISD, are required to send to the state each year.
This three-cent increase will be made of “golden pennies.” Tax funds collected through these additional three pennies would stay within GCISD and not be subject to recapture, meaning that 100 percent of these funds would remain in the district. For the 2023-2024 school year alone, an estimated 22 percent ($31.33 million) of GCISD’s Maintenance & Operations tax levy will be sent back to the state in the form of recapture.
“The Board and District leadership have worked diligently to find efficiencies and significantly reduce expenditures over the past few years, and still provide exceptional educational opportunities for our students and provide tax relief on the debt side of the tax rate, even with the recent passage of the three bond propositions in May,” said Superintendent Dr. Brad Schnautz. “We encourage the members of our community to learn more about the VATRE, along with budget information and district tax rates, and ask questions before casting their vote in this election.”
Also at the August 12 Special Meeting, trustees approved the 2024 tax rate, and even with the three additional golden pennies from the passage of the VATRE, the total overall tax rate (M&O plus I&S) will be lowered by $0.0014. With the passage of the VATRE, the M&O tax rate will increase by $0.0079, but the Board approved a decrease of $0.0093 on the I&S rate, which results in a lower total tax rate. Over the last five years, the overall tax rate in GCISD has been reduced by 37.98 cents, is now the lowest it has been in more than 25 years and remains one of the lowest in the region.
Any GCISD resident who is registered to vote may cast a ballot in this election. Voters will be asked to vote “for” or “against” the proposition. Early voting runs from Monday, October 21, to Friday, November 1, and Election Day is on Tuesday, November 5. Monday, October 7, is the final day to register to vote in the November 5 General Election.
GCISD officials will schedule informational meetings to share details and answer questions. As soon as those meetings are finalized, information will be shared through the district’s regular communication channels. In the meantime, residents are encouraged to visit www.GCISD.net/VATRE for more information.