This year, Pflugerville ISD and many other school districts are projecting a funding shortage due to legislative inaction during the 88th State Legislative Session, declining enrollment and declining attendance.

School districts are funded primarily through local property taxes, with some additional funding from the State of Texas, depending on multiple factors. The Texas Education Agency calculates a district’s state funding by estimating how much local tax revenue the district should collect based on local property values.

Due to a rapid increase in local property values, PfISD is now a "recapture" district and, as a result, is forced to send money back to the State of Texas. 

The district sent $17 million of its taxpayer dollars to the State of Texas last year.

The funding loss has forced the district to make hard budgeting decisions over the past several years. We have decreased staff budgets and positions every year for the past three years. We have decreased student programs. Although we did not implement this, district officials have contemplated closing campuses and consolidating campuses to save on operations expenses. We have also looked at implementing student fees for extra-curricular activities. These are not actions the district administration or Board of Trustees wanted to do. But even with these budget cuts, the funding gaps left by our State Legislature have left us with a $2.9 budget deficit for 2023-2024.

For these reasons, the PfISD Board of Trustees has unanimously approved calling for a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) on November 7. 

Approval of the VATRE will provide: 

1. Additional $10.7 million in funding

2. Higher pay for ALL Pflugerville ISD teachers and staff

3. A decrease in the school tax rate AND a decrease in property owners' tax bill.*

* Pending simultaneous approval of SB 2, also on the November ballot. SB 2 proposes changing the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000.

Learn more about the VATRE.