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We need your continued advocacy with a busy week of hearings on education- and budget-related bills at the Capitol.
Here are some bills we are watching:
SENATE BILL 2088: Prepayment Credit for Recapture
This bill is POSITIVE for Spring Branch ISD and directly addresses an SBISD legislative priority. The Senate Education Committee is slated to hear this bill tomorrow, Wed., April 5.
If passed, SB 2088 would provide recapture districts like SBISD with the option to receive a 10% reduction in our recapture bill – if that payment is made to the state by February 15.
- Based on this year’s recapture amount, this would save SBISD about $8 million.
- Businesses currently enjoy a similar discount for sales tax payments they make to the state.
- This incentive for early payment benefits the state’s bottom line. With more revenue in the state treasury, the state can earn interest on these dollars and reduce borrowing costs to meet state cash flow requirements.
- This early payment discount was available to districts until House Bill 3 passed in 2019. Bringing this discount back is a way to reduce recapture without significant cost to the state.
- Reminder: As a recapture district, the state takes, or recaptures, property taxes paid by our taxpayers to SBISD in excess of what the state says SBISD is entitled to. This year, the state will take $87 million from SBISD, or 21 cents on every dollar paid in local school taxes, to benefit the state’s bottom line.
ADVOCACY REQUEST: Reach out today-let the Senate Education Committee know you support Senate Bill 2088. It is helpful for Spring Branch ISD.
In the House, we are watching HB 11 and HB 100 (the primary bill for school finance reform) and CSHB 1 – the General Appropriations Bill. These bills do not yet reach our legislative priority of at least a $1,000 increase in the Basic Allotment.
Here’s the math:
- Why is SBISD asking for a minimum $1,000 increase to the Basic Allotment?
- The Texas Comptroller’s Consumer Price Index affirms Texas public schools need a Basic Allotment increase of $900/student just to keep up with the inflationary costs districts have faced, with no additional revenue, since 2019. The additional $100/student (to reach our $1,000 request) helps us address inflationary costs going forward so we can continue to provide the educational excellence our students deserve.
- A $1,000 increase would cut our recapture payment roughly in half.
- Without an increase in the Basic Allotment, combined with recapture relief, SBISD faces a potential budget shortfall of $40-$50 million annually going forward.
- If funding is not increased, significant changes in programming and educational experiences would be required beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
- Currently, the House budget allocates $5 billion for public education, or ONLY a $50/student increase in the Basic Allotment. This allocation includes strings attached and falls significantly short of the $14 billion ($900/student) needed to address the needs of public school districts statewide, including SBISD. We need the Legislature to #FULLYFUNDSBISD!
ADVOCACY REQUEST: Reach out to our Legislative Delegation and the House Public Education Committee and emphasize the need for a $1,000/student increase in the Basic Allotment.
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