By Cyndy Slovak-Barton

Amid the clamor over Hays High’s fight song, only one speaker stepped up to the mic on Aug. 27 to protest the proposed tax rate set by Hays CISD. 

Despite the single protester, the district approved its 2015-2016 budget by a vote of 6-0. Marty Kanetzsky was absent due to illness.

The vote on the tax rate is scheduled for the Sept. 21 Hays CISD trustee workshop.

The proposed rate of $1.5377 remains the same as last year, but appraisals of property within Hays CISD has risen, causing some properties’ total tax bills to rise.

The lone protester, David Douglas, pointed out to the school board that property evaluations are spiking the tax bills. Douglas requested that the board push the Hays Central Appraisal District (CAD) to accurately show the value of each and every property.

The current average market value of residences is $163,749 this year, compared to $141,311 last year. 

“The flyer when the bonds were passed were disingenuous,” Douglas said. “I had a $352.80 increase this year just in school taxes.”

Douglas said he feels the problems on inconsistent evaluations made by the Hays CAD causes tens of thousands of properties to be undervalued, leaving those whose property was recently assessed to pay the brunt of bills.

“We must ensure that every dollar is captured from the ground level up,” he said.

Hays CISD’s tax rate for 2016 is $1,5377 per $100 of taxable valuation. Of that rate, $1.04 is set for Maintenance and Operations (M&O), while $.4977 is for school debt service, covering payments on voter approved bonds.

Compared with last year, the M&O budget increased 8.32%, while debt service increased 13.56%.

The total appraised value of all property rose to $6.914 million, compared to $5.823 million last year. 

HCISD’s outstanding bond indebtedness at this point is $321,860,000.