Mike R. Waldrip, Superintendent Frisco Independent School District | Official website
The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees will consider raising the general fund tax rate by 2.94 cents, sending the change to voters this November.
Trustees discussed the tax rate and a recommended bond program in a workshop on August 5. No action was taken at that meeting; the Board will vote on both the tax rate and bond at its regular August 19 meeting.
If approved by the Board and voters, the proposed change would result in a $158 increase to the average homeowner’s annual tax bill, based on an average 2024 home valuation of $727,914 and taxable value of $539,763. Additionally, it would generate $11.5 million in net property tax revenue for Frisco ISD. The increase would produce a total of $19.5 million in property tax revenue, with $8 million going to the state through mandatory recapture.
The Frisco ISD tax rate has not increased since 2011. Despite higher appraisals leading to increased tax bills, Frisco ISD has not seen a revenue increase due to state funding formulas adjusting state aid based on local appraisal increases.
“The only way to raise money for the school district is to raise the tax rate,” said Kimberly Smith, chief finance and strategy officer. “If a person’s appraisal goes up and they pay more in taxes, our state aid goes down. There’s an offsetting relationship between property taxes and state aid.”
If passed by voters, funds from the proposed tax rate increase would help Frisco ISD maintain competitive salaries and high-quality student programming. The Board passed a deficit budget for 2024-25, primarily due to giving a 3% raise to teachers and staff from district rainy day funds.
The district’s tax rate consists of two parts: the M&O (Maintenance & Operations) rate and the I&S (Interest & Sinking) rate. The M&O rate pays for daily operations and is determined annually by the state's funding formula. It has decreased every year since 2018 when it was $1.17 and currently stands at 75.75 cents per dollar of assessed value due to property tax relief passed by the Texas Legislature in its 88th session.
The proposed VATRE (Voter-Approved Tax Rate Election) would bring it up to 78.69 cents per dollar of assessed value—an increase of 2.94 cents.
The I&S rate covers bonds' principal and interest payments and has remained steady at 27 cents since 2018. An increase in this debt service tax rate is not being considered even with a bond program under review.
“We’ve planned this bond program conservatively to ensure we can meet the district’s needs at the current I&S tax rate,” Smith said. “Our goal is for taxpayers not to see the tax rate go up and down every year, even if our principal and interest payments change.”
State-mandated recapture requires local tax dollars from property-rich school districts like Frisco ISD to be sent to the state for redistribution among other districts as part of school funding laws preventing districts from raising their rates without paying recapture.
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