Wylie Today

As we all feel the pinch from rising gas and food prices, we are about to be squeezed a little bit more. I’m sure most of you remember passing the bonds a few years ago to pay for road improvements, a new library, a recreation center, a new fire station, park improvements and a new city hall.

Well, now it’s time to pay up.

According to current fiscal year 2008-2009 budget proposal, city taxes are going to increase 16 cents. Wylie is already burdened with one of the highest city tax rates in Collin County at a rate of 73 cents per $100 home valuation. Next year that rate will be 89 cents. The rate is going to max out at 93 or 94 cents by the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Also keep in mind that the WISD wants to increase taxes by 12 cents next year and will also be asking voters to pass a bond package that could approach 185 million dollars.

But don’t worry, according to the long range plan, the city tax rate will hit sub 80 cent rates again in 2015.

Buckle up and start saving.

The Wylie ISD Board of Trustees may be asking you to increase ISD taxes this year. Trustees listened earnestly to the WISD finance director during the second budget workshop Monday night, May 18th. The tax relief program implemented by the State of Texas last year is causing serious fiscal concerns with school budgets.

ISD taxes have two parts to them; Maintenance & Operations (M&O) and Debt Service. The Debt Service portion of ISD taxes can not exceed 50 cents per $100 of appraised property value. This portion is used to cover debt incurred by the district through issued bonds. Wylie ISD’s rate is currently 35 cents.

The M&O portion is used for exactly that, Maintenance and Operations of the district. The maximum rate the ISD can use without an election is $1.04. Wylie ISD’s M&O tax rate is currently set at $1.04. The M&O portion of ISD taxes has a ceiling of $1.17. But in order to use the maximum allowed, the voters within the district must agree and demonstrate their agreement at the polls.

Based on the conversation that took place Monday night, I will be really surprised if the WISD Board of Trustees didn’t ask citizens to raise the tax rate with a vote in November. And honestly, it’s not as bad as it sounds because it provides an automatic return on investment from the state.

The first 6 pennies over one dollar mark are referred to as “Golden Pennies” because they are matched by the state at a ratio of approximately 1.25. That means every dollar the ISD generates in taxes using those 6 “Golden Pennies”, the State of Texas gives the ISD $1.25 in return on top of that. Pennies 7 through 17 are also matched, but at a significantly reduced rate.

WISD Superintendent Dr. John Fuller recommended to the Trustees to ask citizens to raise taxes to the maximum amount allowed. Without those additional 13 pennies, teacher and staff raises might be out of the question, resulting in a loss of talented educators to other districts. Dr. Fuller made it clear that he would forfeit his recent raise as well.

Currently, 12% of districts have successfully voted on tax rates higher than $1.04. Dr. Fuller said he expects this number to increase as he thinks many districts will have this item on the ballot in November. His ideal scenario though is for the State legislation to fix the problem they have created.