My ballot says Denton ISD bond proposals will raise my property taxes. Campaign mailers say they won’t. Which is right?

Talk about an ominous final word on the measures.

But campaign mailers saying the tax rate won’t change. District promotions have promised that no new taxes will accompany the $1.4 billion bond package.

So which is it?

Should voters approve the propositions, there won’t be a property tax increase hidden in them.

So why does my ballot say my taxes will go up?

The confusing ballot language goes back to the 86th Texas Legislative session. Texas politicians promised billions in funding to Texas schools, but they demanded a compromise: a blanket requirement for any school bond election to come with a note on the ballot to tell voters that this bond is a property tax increase.

That’s not completely inaccurate. School districts can increase property tax rates, but lots of districts take on bond debt to avoid raising taxes.

Texas state Rep. Rafael Anchia, who co-authored the bill that provided the funding and the ballot language (House Bill 3), made a slightly apologetic video in 2020 explaining that Dallas ISD voters could cast a ballot for a high-stakes bond without fearing higher property taxes

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Texans are famously allergic to taxes, so this kind of language is bound to make voters wince. Whether or not Lone Star State politicians predicted that is for bar stool debates, but it’s the result of the economic rubric of some Texas House members. The idea, politicos said, is that if a school district didn’t issue bonds, it could drop the tax rate.

But that’s not the case for Denton ISD. Currently, the ad valorem tax rate of $1.34 per $100 of assessed property value. The tax rate will be the same after the election. That tax rate is 19 cents lower than the tax rate in 2018. Right now, the school tax rate is at its floor, and can’t be lowered.

And if you’re 65 years old or older and have a homestead exemption? You qualify for a property tax ceiling: The dollar amount you pay for property taxes the year you file for the over-65 exemption is the dollar amount you’ll pay for as long as you own the home.

It doesn’t help Denton ISD that the bond election is happening just as homeowners get their newest property value appraisals in the mail. (Many homeowners have noticed that the trend of rising Denton County property values is unabated.) Many a homeowner believes that higher property values means that the additional monies automatically pump more money into Denton public schools. Not so: Austin apportions our property tax monies, which means Denton ISD campuses aren’t the default beneficiaries of the real estate boom.

So where will the money come from to pay the debts if the bond passes?

You know all those new neighborhoods springing up across North Texas? Well, thousands of new homes are either being built or will be built soon within the 18 municipalities of Denton ISD. Those homes, which represent billions of dollars in economic growth, will fund the growth in the school district.

So, additional taxable properties will indeed pay for the bond. It just won’t burden current property owners with a higher rate.

There’s talk that legislators might change the language on Texas public school bond elections, explaining that the bond would allow districts to take on more debt.