Elected officials in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District voted to boost property tax revenue by about $34 million by adding two “disaster pennies” to the tax rate.
Texas’ tax code allows school districts to adopt a one-time tax increase without voter approval to help offset costs associated with a declared disaster “including a tornado, hurricane, flood, wildfire, or other calamity.”
Cy-Fair ISD officials cited a tornado-related disaster declaration issued by Gov. Greg Abbott in January 2023 that covered Harris and Orange counties.
During a school board meeting on Monday, trustees voted 5-2 to add two disaster pennies to the tax rate.
The extra pennies are expected to increase the average homeowner’s tax bill by about $10 and bring in an additional $33.9 million in revenue—less than half of the district’s projected budget deficit of $77.5 million for the 2024-25 school year.
Trustees Christine Kalmbach and Natalie Blasingame voted against the tax hike.
Kalmbach said she opposed any increase in property taxes, while Blasingame said she opposed raising taxes unless money was spent to restore cuts in bus services.
Cy-Fair ISD has 118,000 students and 19,000 employees on 96 campuses.
The district was long known for having the highest-paid superintendent in the state, Mark Henry, with a salary in excess of half a million dollars. Current Superintendent Doug Killian, who was hired in December 2023, receives a salary of just over $400,000.
Yet results released this week of an efficiency audit—conducted in anticipation of a possible tax increase requiring voter approval—concluded that Cy-Fair ISD spends slightly less on administrative costs than the statewide average.
Other Texas school districts are also using disaster pennies to raise their property tax rates.
Next Tuesday, trustees in Huffman ISD will vote on raising the district’s tax rate by as much as 25 percent without voter approval by taking advantage of the disaster exception.
The Huffman ISD board will hold a workshop and special meeting to discuss and approve the tax rate starting at 8:00 a.m. on October 15.
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