Elysian Fields ISD’s Board of Trustees approved a lower tax rate for the 2022-2023 school year Monday evening during the board’s regular August meeting.
The overall tax rate in EFISD will be 0.8939 cents per $100 valuation, which is down from last year’s 0.9370 cents. The Maintenance and Operations (M&O) portion breaks down to 0.8546 cents, while the district’s Interest and Sinking (I&S) lowers to 0.393 cents.
While EFISD set the tax rate and budget for the 2022-2023 school year Monday evening, the district has been informed by the Texas Education Agency that it must send a portion of its local funding this year to the state under the “Robin Hood” recapture law.
District officials said that a significant increase in oil and gas revenues within EFISD this year led to the influx in tax revenue and pushed EFISD over the state’s threshold that triggers the Robin Hood process. District voters will be asked to approve the Option 3 action on the November ballot or risk having portions of the district pulled away to make up the difference through a process called “detachment.”
If Option 3 is approved, EFISD will pay recapture to the state each month “beginning in February 2023 or in one payment for the total amount required to be paid by the district not later than August 15 for the school year for which the agreement is in effect,” according to state recapture guidelines.