Ector County ISD Superintendent Scott Muri told the board of trustees during a bond workshop Tuesday they could have $427,155,000 for a potential bond without raising taxes.
Trustees would have to call the bond on or before Aug. 21 for a Nov. 7 election.
The board also discussed taking a new middle school out of the bond package, repurposing under-used campuses and having town hall meetings across Ector County to explain the bond.
Board members said they want to get out into the community, find out what they will vote for and get something across the finish line. The board agreed that town hall meetings should be held on all sides of town with staff on hand to answer any further questions.
The bond committee had been working with a no tax increase threshold of $396 million, but Muri said he told them that number could be different once the legislature finished its work and the district has new information.
“We always told the committee that number could be different once the legislature finishes and once we have new information. … Now we have more information. That number is bigger. We’re still following what the committee said; no tax increase, but we have a higher number that we can use,” Muri said.
How did they get the higher number?
“It’s a formula. Look at your M&O tax, your I&S tax, your property values and there’s tax compression. There’s a lot of different factors that go into this and so those factors that are in the formula have changed,” Muri said. “We told the committee the whole time, this probably won’t be the number. We think it’s going to be higher …”
M&O stands for maintenance and operations, which makes up the general fund and I&S stands for interest and sinking and goes to pay debt, like bonds.
The total tax rate for ECISD is currently $1.17 per $100 valuation.
According to a column from Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, Senate Bill 2 increases the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000 and taps surplus revenue to provide $12.7 billion in property tax relief over the next two years by reducing school district maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rates by 10.7 cents per $100 of taxable value to “buy down” school district maintenance and operation rates.
Additionally, the column says Senate Bill 2 creates a 20% appraisal cap applicable for tax years 2024, 2025, and 2026 for non-homestead properties with an appraised value of $5 million or less. The current 10% appraisal cap that applies to your homestead remains in place.
“It’s the community’s bond issue. They’re going to make the decision on what they will accept and what they won’t accept. It’s about the needs of our children and projecting those needs into the next 10-15 years …,” Trustee Steve Brown said.
Board member Bob Thayer said the November election would have a normal voting pattern, but if there’s a reason to vote against something, people will vote against it.
In public comment, David Munger, an Odessa High School counselor, asked trustees to consider a bond option that would not build a stand-alone Career & Technical Education Center but return all established CTE programs to Odessa and Permian high schools.
Munger also asked trustees to consider placing small high school programs at existing elementary schools that have space. Next, Sarah Moore spoke, saying she has been a member of the last two bond committees, enjoyed being part of them, and is proud of the work they have done. She expressed concern that there is no specific recommendation for a new high school, saying that OHS and PHS are overcrowded; it takes three years to build a high school; and asking how long will it be until the conditions are addressed.
Muri said ECISD has $1.8 billion worth of needs, but recommendations from the bond committee include:
- A new career and technical education center for $80 million. Muri said the district has a commitment from the Permian Strategic Partnership to contribute, but he didn’t know how much, so the project would be in excess of $80 million.
- A new middle school for $120 million.
- Priority 1 items of $48.4 million. These items need to be fixed right away. Muri said it was $51 million, but was reduced because the district has done some of the maintenance.
- Priority 2 items of $72.7 million that need to be fixed in three to five years.
- Also a new transportation department building and buses; technology; fine arts; building a new Transition Learning Center; athletics needs; and replacing old buildings on the agricultural farm.
These items also include furniture and fixtures, Muri said.
“Part of the board’s process is to receive the recommendation from the committee and then to make it their own. Sometimes making it your own means you need to make some adjustments and so that’s the conversation tonight. The majority have to feel comfortable with what’s in the bond package. This is healthy discussion …,” Muri said.
