by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian 

Photo Credit: Michael Robinson

  The Uvalde CISD school district presented a proposed budget for the 2023-2024 school year at a public hearing of the 2023-2024 Tax Rate and proposed district budget. Immediately following the public hearing the school board started its regular monthly board meeting where the board would ultimately approve the proposed budget. 

  According to the district, the proposed budget came in at a deficit of $1,606,583 which exceeds the previous 2022-2023 school year budget deficit of $966,548.

  When asked by a an member of the audience about the donations and grants received following the May 24th Tragedy, Patterson explained that the vast amount of  the donated money went towards the construction of the next school led by the Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation and most donations and grants do not covered instructional costs and general costs of operations. He continued by saying most of the grants are restricted grants which can only be used for specific purposes. 

  According to Pamela Bendele, the  Director, Financial Operations at UCISD, she stated that General Revenue is down nearly 4 million dollars citing the Texas State Legislature passage of the Homestead Exemption as the cause of the decrease.

  Bendele also said that the District gets funded by the seat indicating daily student attendance.

According the Bill’s analysis  by the Texas Senate Research Center dated 5-30-23, it states the following: 

“This increase in the homestead exemption amount will provide a savings of $681 to a homeowner’s school tax at the statewide independent school district average tax rate of $1.136. Included in S.B. 1 is a hold harmless to school districts�the state will make up any formula funding deficit a school district might incur as a result of this exemption increase.

S.B. 1 also contains a provision to provide the full amount of the $40,000 homestead exemption increase to over-65/disabled exemption holders who did not receive the full benefit from S.J.R. 3 and S.B. 1 that was approved by voters in May 2022. Additionally, S.B. 1 contains language that if a legislature increases the homestead exemption, over-65/disabled exemption holders will automatically benefit from the increased exemption amount. This provision will eliminate the need to have a separate constitutional amendment every time the exemption amount is increased for over-65/disabled exemption holders.

S.B. 1 seeks to increase the homestead exemption amount to $100,000.”

2023-2024 Tax Rate

At Monday night’s School Board meeting, board members voted to adopt a tax rate of $0.263997.

 

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  After convening in a private executive session, Uvalde County Judge Bill Mitchell and the Uvalde Commissioners Court announced plans to move forward on the acquisition of the American Lumber’s sales and distribution office located at 207 South Getty Street. According to information provided at the Commissioners Court Meeting, the closing date for the property is slated for March 10th, 2023. The building will be used by the County as the new location for the Uvalde County Center for Emergency Management.

According to Uvalde County Commissioner Ronnie Garza, funds from the Biden Administration (ARP) or American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 will be used to purchase the property. The Uvalde County Commissioners Court did not disclose the purchase price for the property at its Monday, February 27th, meeting

According to information on the Uvalde County Appraisal District’s website, the 2022 property value is assessed at $391,963. The 2022 Property Taxes paid are listed at $9,780.01

The following is information about the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 from Wikipedia:

“The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession.^[1] First proposed on January 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act from March 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, from December.^[2][3]”

 

  In an effort to give Uvalde more options for extracurricular after school, the Council proposed to open up the sports practice fields available for the active sports programs. Councilmen King raised concerns about the potential damage to the grass. Rob Fowler, Director of Parks and Recreation assured the Council that all the fields are equipped with sprinkler systems.

  The Boys’ and Girls’ Club of America is preparing to take residency in Uvalde. Soon, they will set up shop at the Civic Center, and have an estimated operating budget for a year will be 2 million dollars . They are projecting to have 10 million dollars available for the next 5 years. The organization offers an array of different activities for children up to 18 years old.

  The Council approved the annual budget. Concerns were expressed about the constant rise in property taxes while the estimated property remain the same. The Mayor suggested that citizens get on the Uvalde County Appraisal District board along with going to Austin and filing a complaint with them.