A new report from Zonda Education shows high home prices in Round Rock are threatening future enrollment in that district. The study shows home sales within the district dropped by half over the past three years. High prices and interest rates make it tough for young families to buy homes there, and it's impacting the school district because the amount of state funding is determined by enrollment numbers. view article

The city’s proposed tax rate would increase average homeowners’ property tax bills by 61 percent.  For a second year in a row, elected officials in the small North Texas city of Whitesboro are proposing a big property tax increase, which could raise residents’ tax bills by more than 60 percent without a public vote.  On Tuesday night, Whitesboro City Council members will consider adopting a property tax rate for 2025 that would hike the average homeowner’s city taxes by $498—a 61 percent increase.  The proposed increase, which would also raise 61 percent more total tax revenue, is below the city’s calculated voter-approval rate. view article

Recent weeks have been full of budget workshops, public hearings and local governments setting their tax rates to fund their 2025-26 fiscal budgets. Those included Lubbock area school districts like Lubbock ISD, Frenship ISD, and Lubbock-Cooper ISD, where their tax rates help with maintenance and operations of public schools and with debt service. view article

COLLEGE STATION (Texas Real Estate Research Center) – Texas’ housing market slowed in February after persistently low mortgage interest rates contributed to record sales in the existing-home sector the previous month. "Sales activity was greatly hindered by February’s unseasonably wintery weather that caused power outages and water disruptions across the state," said Dr. Luis Torres, research economist for the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. Existing-homes sold through the Texas Multiple Listing Services declined 16 percent from January, drawing even with year-ago levels. Despite slower sales, the state’s existing-home inventory fell below 1.5 months in February. The number of new listings that hit the market declined for the second straight month to their lowest reading since April 2020, when the state was under a stay-at-home mandate. view article

Count on the Texas Legislature to come up with a painfully complicated and inefficient way to repeal a painfully complicated and inefficient tax. Lawmakers deserve praise for targeting the Texas Franchise Tax, but their methods are unsound. The franchise tax, also called the margins or business tax, ranks consistently as one of the worst taxes anywhere in the country. It was the convoluted response to the Texas Supreme Court declaring the public school finance system unconstitutional. Lawmakers had to lower property taxes to comply with the court order, so to find replacement funds they rewrote the franchise tax, what businesses pay for the privilege to operate in our great state. view article

The Dallas school board Thursday night voted against putting a tax ratification election before voters this fall. The proposed 13-cent tax hike would have given the district $100 million to fund early childhood education and early college high school programs. The district also wanted to expand a program that pays extra money to top teachers who take jobs in some of the district’s toughest schools. view article

Trustees of the Wylie Independent School District proposed a tax rate of $1.13 per $100 of property value for the 2016-17 fiscal year — a tax cut of 2.4 cents — and added more money to the proposed budget for teachers' salaries during Monday's regular board meeting. Trustees conducted their third of three workshops for the 2016-17 budget of $32.340 million and set a special meeting for Monday, Aug. 29, at 6:30 p.m. to receive comments from the public on the budget and tax rate and then consider approval. view article

School trustees in Kilgore began their budget-writing season Monday with an overview of what is and isn’t known about financing the 2014-15 school year. view article