HOW WE GOT TO THE FINAL TAX RATE THAT WAS APPROVED FOR WYLIE ISD ON 8/15/22

Wylie ISD was provided their Estimate of Assessed Values in the Early Spring from the Collin County Central Appraisal District (CCCAD) and started the process for approving a tax rate for the coming year.

  • On May 18, 2022, The Wylie ISD Administration provided a Form 50-859, Tax Rate Calculation Worksheet, to the Wylie ISD Board. The worksheet showed four key items:
    • Line 20 showed 2022 Taxable Values of $9,004,829,584
    • Line 23 showed estimated new revenue from new construction for $295,948,000 for 2022
    • Line 25 showed the No New Revenue Tax Rate (NNR Rate) of 1.187812%
    • Line 44 showed the Voter-Approval Rate (VA Rate) of $1.444800%

At the June 13, 2022 School Board meeting, given the above information, Wylie School Board once again voted unanimously, as they have 111 times consecutively, to approve the recommendation of Administration to levy a tax rate of 1.397900% for the coming budget cycle.

  • Since this board was formed in November 2020, they have voted 111 consecutive times to unanimously approve whatever is suggested by Administration.
    • This is where they earned the nickname of the “Rubber Stamp Board”.
  • The 1.397900% tax rate is about 18% above the NNR Rate of 1.187812%. When they approved this rate at the
  • This tax rate they voted to levy was necessary to fund the over $16.7M increase in the budget they approved at the same meeting. They refused to consider public requests asking them to instead approve the NNR Rate.

On July 25, 2022, the CCCAD provided FINAL Assessed Values which were about $500M below the estimated values provided in the Spring.

On August 1, 2022, The Wylie ISD Administration provided a revised Form 50-859, Tax Rate Calculation Worksheet, to the Wylie ISD Board. The revised worksheet showed four key items:

  • Line 20 showed 2022 Taxable Values of $8,510,409,191
  • Line 23 showed estimated new revenue from new construction for $301,242,946 for 2022
  • Line 25 showed the No New Revenue Tax Rate (NNR Rate) of 1.259178%
  • Line 44 showed the Voter-Approval Rate (VA Rate) of $1.397900%

At the August 15, 2022, School Board meeting, given the above revised information, Wylie School Board once again voted unanimously, yet again, to approve the recommendation of Administration to levy a tax rate of 1.397900% for the coming budget cycle.

  • As the Final Assessed Values were about $500M below what was estimated, the NNR Rate rose from 1.187812% to 1.259178%. This is the new rate that would generate the same revenue based on the lower assessed value.
  • The big change is that the Voter-Approval Rate was now lowered to 1.397900%, the rate the School Board had tentatively approved in the June meeting. This School Board approved the absolute maximum tax rate they could levy while avoiding an automatic election for voter approval.

Fallacies

  • The Wylie ISD School Board voted to lower the tax rate. True but misleading! They have lowered the rate but not enough to offset the increase in Assessed Values. That would be the NNR Rate and they have NEVER chosen to utilize the NNR Rate. The below is an example of how lower tax rate against higher Assessed Values leads to higher property taxes – like Wylie ISD has done every year:
    • $100,000 Assessed Value x 1.5% Tax Rate = $1,500 in Property Tax
    • $130,000 Assessed Value x 1.4% Tax Rate = $1,820 in Property Tax.
  • The Wylie ISD School Board only increase the tax rate 11% above the NNR Rate. True but misleading! The school board approved a rate at the June 13, 2022, school board meeting,1.397900%, that was 18% above the then 1.187812% NNR Rate. They approved the rate at that time knowing it was 18% above the NNR Rate and had no problem with that extreme increase. They would not listen to public comment asking them to reduce the rate at the August final rate approval meeting to the NNR Rate and instead confirmed the rate they approved in the June meeting. Just because the Assessed Values were lower than estimated and the final rate increase ended up being 11%, doesn’t negate the FACT they approved the rate when it was 18% above the NNR Rate. It’s disingenuous to claim that they were trying to minimize the increase. It’s simply spin.
  • If Wylie ISD approves a NNR Rate, they will lose about $13M dollars. FALSE! It’s not a loss when you don’t TAKE more than you should from tax-payers. This mindset is at the core of the misguided thinking of Wylie ISD Administration and School Board. They forget that this is not their money!
    • We have already shown that they had over $8.8M in excess revenue in the 2021-22 budget cycle and that they could expect to receive about $4.4M in tax revenue from new construction, which is almost $13.2M. The difference between revenue generated at the NNR Rate and the Voter Approval Rate they approved is about $11.387,920.