Property taxes are going up for property owners across the Central Texas region—including Round Rock ISD—but those additional tax dollars are not necessarily staying in their districts to help local schools.
In Round Rock, the increase is not from a higher tax rate. In fact, Round Rock ISD’s Board of Trustees has reduced the school district tax rate four times over the past five years for a total reduction of almost 6 percent. The increase is due to rising property values in the District (the assessed values of all homes, apartments, shopping centers, businesses, etc.)
State funding formulas for school districts are designed to reduce state funding for education as property values increase. In addition, districts deemed “property wealthy” by the state, as Round Rock ISD is, must return property tax revenue back to the state to help fund “property poor” school districts. The State’s recapture plan, also referred to as “Robin Hood,” means Round Rock ISD taxpayers subsidize education costs for other Texas school districts.
Only the Texas Legislature can reverse the increasing flow of local taxpayer dollars to the state’s budget.
Learn more about school finance in Texas and what it means for Round Rock ISD.
