Impact on Tax Rate
HB 3 committed more state-level funding to education and, in turn, was able to compress local property tax rates throughout the state, including in HPISD. This chart shows how the HPISD tax rate decreased 7 pennies (per $100 of taxable value) from 2018 to 2019. The HPISD tax rate decreased another 1.36 pennies in 2020. During the 2021-22 school year, the tax rate is scheduled to decrease another 6.1 cents. Approval of the 4 golden pennies would still decrease the tax rate. However, the decrease would be by 2.1 cents (instead of 6.1 cents) to $1.1310, which would be the lowest tax rate in 5 years.
In comparison to 25 North Texas school districts, HPISD has the lowest tax rate and was on average 21 cents lower.
The election, called a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election or VATRE, would authorize the use of 4 “golden pennies”, which are not subject to the state’s Recapture formula, from the tax rate.
- A majority vote for the golden penny election will decrease the tax rate by 2.1 cents per $100 of assessed property value and generate approximately $3.6 million to be used for staff compensation.
- A majority vote against the golden penny election will decrease the tax rate by 6.1 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
The difference in taxes between the two options (2.1 cent decrease vs. 6.1 cent decrease) is projected to be $310 annually (less than $26 per month) on a home with a taxable value of $1 million. Property owners 65 and older, who have a homestead tax ceiling, would experience no change to their taxes due to the election.
The above table shows estimates for the impact on property taxes on homes valued at $1 million, $2 million and $5 million respectively.