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Trustees OK tax rates, SROs

SMCISD Board
Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Taxpayers in the San Marcos CISD will notice an increase this year after the SMCISD board of trustees set the 2018 tax rate Monday night.

The rate is $1.4141 per $100 of valuation, the same as the 2017 rate, but with higher property values in the district it represents an effective 4.99 percent increase in the tax rate. The taxes will provide $73,327,450 for the district’s 2018-2019 budget. Of each $1.4141, $1.06 will go toward maintenance and operations, and $0.3541 will go toward the district’s interest and sinking fund. 

Trustees John McGlothlin and Miguel Arredondo voted against the tax rate, and trustee Anne Halsey was absent. 

The board also approved the district’s certified appraisal rolls from Hays, Caldwell and Guadalupe counties. The total taxable value of properties located within the district in Hays County is $4.98 billion. The taxable value of properties in the district in Caldwell County is $142 million, and in Guadalupe County the taxable value was $174 million. 

In related business, the board voted to set the district’s effective and rollback tax rates. The effective tax rate is the rate that would provide the same amount of taxes as last year, and the rollback tax rate is the highest tax rate the district could impose before holding an election and putting the decision on a tax rate to the voters. This year’s effective tax rate is $1.346827. The rollback tax rate is the same as the rate the district adopted: $1.4141. McGlothlin was the sole dissenting vote in setting the effective and rollback rates. 

The trustees also approved a contract with the city of San Marcos, acting by and through the San Marcos Police Department, to acquire the services of school resource officers (SROs). The district and city use the SRO program each year to promote educational programs and activities that increase students’ knowledge and respect for the law along with the function of law enforcement agencies, and to provide protection for students, staff and residents. Under the contract, SMCISD and the SROs will work to prevent criminal activity on SMCISD property. SROs are required to share any information with SMCISD Superintendent Michael Cardona or his designee, along with school principals, about arrests or investigations involving district personnel or students within 24 hours of the incident, except if such sharing of information impedes or obstructs the investigation of a crime or such sharing is prohibited by law. The contract also states that SROs will not be allowed to ask students about their immigration status. A 1982 Supreme Court case gave all students a Constitutional right to attend school, regardless of their immigration status. 

rblackburn@sanmarcosrecord.com

Twitter: @arobingoestweet

San Marcos Record

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P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666