This story has been updated.
Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District will ask voters to increase the local property tax rate by 6 cents this November.
Split between Guadalupe and Bexar Counties, the semi-rural district serves about 14,900 students. If voters say yes, the district plans to use the extra $16.2 million annually for pay raises, student programs, technology and school safety.
If voters say no, the district could face a $10.7 million shortfall even though the SCUCISD board was able to pass a balanced budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The proposed extra 6 cents would be part of an overall 12-cent increase to the district’s maintenance and operations rate, which generates revenue for day-to-day costs like utilities and pay. In August, the school board approved moving 6 cents from the interest and sinking rate, which can only be used to pay off bond debt, over to the M&O side, an action which didn’t affect the overall tax rate.
While the revenue generated from the M&O rate increase by itself would equal about $5.8 million, the district would unlock an additional $10.7 million by using golden and copper penny mechanisms, where the state matches each taxpayer dollar based on the district’s property wealth.
If approved, SCUCISD plans to use three golden pennies, which have higher yields, and nine copper pennies, which have lower yields.
Here’s what a 12-cent increase to the M&O rate, which would generate $16.2 million annually, could pay for.
- $3 million for teacher and staff raises
- $6.3 million for student programs
- $900,000 for technology device replacement
- $6 million for safety and security
Without voter approval, the district said it won’t be able to fund teacher raises for the 2026-27 school year or fill its teacher and bus driver vacancies. The district would also have to scale back athletic and fine arts programs, have less funds to replace and maintain technology and scale back its security protocols to the minimum standards required by state law.
What is SCUCISD’s Prop A?
Here’s exactly what the provision on the ballot says:
Ratifying the ad valorem tax rate of $1.1969 per $100 valuation in the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District for the current year, a rate that will result in an increase of 10.37 percent in maintenance and operations tax revenue for the District for the current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an additional $5,482,115.
Correction: This story has been updated to accurately explain the make up of the 12-cent increase to district’s the maintenance and operations rate.
