The Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees approved a $1.2212 tax rate at the regular meeting on Sept. 17. The approved rate reflects a general operating rate of $0.9564 and a $0.2648 rate for debt service, which is a $0.01 decrease from the previous year.
“I firmly believe that our finance team is one of the best in the state,” Superintendent Steve Flores, Ph.D. said. “It’s not only because they have an excellent reputation for placing Round Rock ISD in strong financial standing, but for the care and dedication they have to working to meet the needs of our students and staff. The work they do each day is so critical to our success and we applaud them for their efforts and continued recognition for financial integrity and transparency.”
Trustees adopted a $450.7 million budget in June that included a 2 percent salary raise for employees.
The Board of Trustees also recognized Round Rock ISD’s finance team for the District’s Superior Rating from the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST). Round Rock ISD earned a perfect score in the rating system developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to assess the quality of financial management.
This is the 17th consecutive year that the District has earned a Superior Rating from FIRST.
The FIRST rating system takes into consideration district scores on 15 indicators. Areas of assessment include audit and governance disclosures; cash and investments; tax collections; fund balance; debt management; administrative costs; capital projects; and staff levels.
The District has had a long-standing reputation for superior financial performance. In addition to a Superior Rating, Round Rock ISD also remains the only school district out of 1,200 in the state of Texas to earn an AAA rating from both Fitch and Moody’s. The District has maintained an AAA bond rating from Moody since 2010 and received an AAA rating from Fitch Ratings in 2015. AAA is the highest bond rating possible which demonstrates the manner in which the District carries out its fiscal responsibilities.
