Trustees for San Antonio Independent School District are placing both a voter-approval tax rate election and a $600 million bond package before voters in November.
There will be four propositions for voters to decide on during the November election.
A 3.17-cent maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate increase would fund day-to-day operations and is estimated to generate an additional $5.5 million in revenue.
The district reports that these funds will be used to help support college and career readiness, teacher pipeline initiatives, and compensation initiatives.
The proposed $600 million bond package will be divided into three propositions on the ballot:
Proposition A: $492 million for a variety of school campus modernization and replacement projects, an updated bus fleet, a district police fleet, and security-related additions.
Proposition B: $102 million for IT improvements.
Proposition C: $6 million for improvements to Alamo Stadium and Convocation Center.
The district has not yet posted documents revealing the interest on the proposed bond amounts.
According to the Texas Bond Review Board, San Antonio ISD currently owes $1.3 billion in outstanding debt.
The district estimates that if all four propositions pass, the average district homeowner will see an increase to their tax bill of $1.99 per month in 2026, which will climb to $39 a year in 2027, and would work up incrementally to $69 a year by 2030.
Andrew McVeigh, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, told Texas Scorecard that the proposed VATRE tax hike and $600 million bond package “would further raise property taxes on hardworking families already facing cumulative tax pressures and cost of living increases.”
“While the district points to aging facilities, safety needs, technology upgrades, and a budget shortfall amid declining enrollment, the solution is not more permanent debt and higher rates, it’s better long-term planning and budgeting from existing resources rather than repeatedly turning to bonds,” said McVeigh. “Bonds are not free money. They commit taxpayers, particularly young, working families, to decades of principal and interest payments that increase the overall property-tax burden and undercut broader efforts at relief.”
“Schools must practice the same fiscal restraint expected of Texas families and businesses. That’s what we should expect, and demand, from every level of government.”
San Antonio ISD’s enrollment has dropped from 52,486 students in the 2016-2017 school year to 40,170 this year.
The district passed a $1.3 billion bond package in 2020 that funded new construction, renovation, HVAC replacements, and technology upgrades. Documents show that the interest on the bond package nearly doubled the cost found on the ballot.
Voters have the opportunity to either approve or reject the proposed debt package and M&O tax increase on the November 3 ballot.
The district plans to hold “information sessions” before the election.
