After passing a $309 million bond in May, East Central Independent School District plans to ask voters to approve a property tax increase of 5 cents this November.
Last week, school board trustees green-lit putting a tax rate increase up to the voters, just days before the Aug. 18 deadline to finalize the November ballot.
That’s on top of a separate 4.9 cent increase the district authorized on the interest and sinking tax rate, which pays for the district’s bond projects.
If voters approve the additional 5 cent increase, property tax rates for homeowners in East Central ISD could see their rate go from 88 cents to slightly more than 98 cents per $100 of taxable value.
Passing the measure would generate $7.6 million for the district to cover the cost of maintenance and operations. Nearly half of those monies — $3.3 million — would come from the state every year permanently through a funding mechanism called “golden pennies.”
What are golden pennies, what do they pay for?
When school districts generate revenue using golden pennies, the state matches what taxpayers pay, an amount that varies depending on a district’s property values. In East Central’s case, the state would pay the district $1.35 for every dollar the taxpayers contribute.
School districts can claim up to eight golden pennies, effectively increasing their tax rates. The first five pennies don’t require voter approval, but the last three do. The match can only be used for the day-to-day costs of running schools, like staff pay, utilities and maintenance of buildings.
East Central ISD already claimed the first five pennies, though it’s unclear when.
Using three golden pennies from the proposed 5 cent increase, East Central ISD hopes to access extra funding from the state, aside from roughly $8.5 million the district is set to receive from House Bill 2, a massive public school funding bill that prioritizes pay raises for teachers across the state.
If voters approve the East Central tax rate increase, the extra $7.6 million would fund several district efforts: raising teacher and staff pay for employees who didn’t qualify for mandatory raises under HB 2, school safety and security measures and employee benefits.
What is East Central’s Prop A?
Here’s exactly what the ballot provision says:
Ratifying the ad valorem tax rate of $0.9819 per $100 bonds and the cost of any credit agreements valuation in the East Central Independent School District for the current year, a rate that will result in an increase of 13.77 percent in maintenance and operations tax revenue for the District for the current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an additional $7,603,042.
East Central goes to voters again
Last fall, voters rejected a slate of propositions from East Central ISD that added up to a 13-cent increase in the property tax rate to fund construction projects and operational costs.
In May, however, voters passed a smaller ask — a $309 million bond for the construction of new schools, incurring an 8-cent property tax increase.
The May bond and HB 2 state funding may not be enough to maintain the district’s rapid growth. While most school districts in the area are experiencing a decline in student enrollment, East Central ISD reported an enrollment of nearly 13,000 students for the 2025-26 school year, a jump from the district’s 11,622 enrollment the year before.
And like most school districts in Texas, East Central ISD faces a budget deficit. The district located on the city’s Southeast Side has a budget deficit of $4.6 million.
“It’s lean times for everybody,” and the district doesn’t receive enough funding to fulfill all state mandates, Superintendent Roland Toscano said before trustees agreed to put the tax increase on the November ballot.
East Central ISD’s selling points
If the tax increase does not get passed, the district will have to make several cuts which officials have already identified:
- Eliminating positions such as librarians, nurses, instructional specialists and auxiliary staff
- Furloughing administrative work days
- Cutting pre-K paraprofessional positions
- Cutting athletic periods and the number of coaches per sport
- Reducing stipends by 10%-15%
- Reducing the budget by 10% for the third year in a row
- Cutting staff and resources from the school district’s police department
- Cutting student programs
Compared to other school districts, East Central ISD has the lowest property tax rate in Bexar County. It also has the lowest per-pupil spending in the county, and district officials say the district would still remain in the bottom four districts when it comes to spending per student even if voters say yes to the tax increase.
Despite budget constraints, the district is improving its academic outcomes. The latest round of state accountability ratings, meant to measure how effective schools are at teaching children, shows more of the district’s 16 campuses received an A or B rating than in years prior. Overall, the district earned a 72 for the 2024-25 school year, compared to a 63 the previous year.
If the tax increase passes, district officials also say homeowners likely won’t feel the burden of higher tax bills since Texas voters are expected to approve a higher homestead exemption on the November ballot too.
