Alto ISD schedules Sept. 21 town hall meeting on taxes

ALTO – A Sept. 21 town hall meeting – one of two planned – will be held by Alto ISD officials to discuss a voter approved tax ratification election this November.

A second town hall is slated for Oct. 11. Both meetings begin at 6 p.m. in the AISD cafeteria.

Recently, the district publicized its intent to call a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) on Nov. 2, to take advantage of the state finance formula to restructure the tax rate.

According to officials, if approved by voters, the district would receive $740,000 in additional funding while decreasing the local tax rate by one penny.

The VATRE also would allow Alto ISD to restructure its tax rate, essentially decreasing its Maintenance and Operations (M&O) tax rate by a penny, while keeping the Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax rate unchanged. This would mean the total tax rate would be $1.5319, one cent lower than last year’s tax rate.

District officials also pointed out that if voters approve the tax rate adopted by the board, of the additional funding Alto ISD would receive, 76 percent – or $560,000 – would be from the state. If the VATRE is not approved by voters, these state funds are left on the table in Austin and will not come to Alto.

These funds are needed to help the district recover from the destructive storms of 2019 and the COVID outbreak of 2020, officials said.

In turn, future tax rates will drop in the near future: It will decrease by 10 cents in 2023; as the debt payment decreases, a smaller debt rate will be needed.

For additional information about the Voter-Approval Tax Rate