I read on another forum that the ISD taxes we pay are the highest legally allowable in Texas, however the current board has set a goal of getting the law changed in order to be able to raise them further. Is this truly the case, please tell me that person was incorrect.
That person was incorrect.
http://www.allenamerican.com/articles/2011/11/16/a ...
mgrayar - not sure if you saw this earlier post of mine or not.
Simple answer is no - the school district is NOT suing for the privilege of raising the tax rate.
Which of course begs the question, what ARE they suing for? They are suing for adequate funding and a level playing field. The way the process works is that the courts will decide whether the law in its current form is or is not constitutional. The courts will not decide on the manner in which relief is provided - that is up to the legislature.
Outcome #1 - the courts uphold the current law. The legislature will very likely do nothing in that case and school districts will continue to squeeze until the system springs a leak somewhere else (across the board salary cuts, mega classes, etc.) Eventually the schools will then go BACK to court on an adequacy complaint and win.
Outcome #2 - the court declares the current law fails a constitutional test (does not provide adequate funding, is a de facto statewide property tax with no meaningful discretion at the local level, etc.)
If the past predicts the future, sooner or later we will get to outcome number 2 and the legislature will be compelled to make a change in the law. At that point the politicos are in charge and they are free to create any solution they want which relieves whatever condition the court found unconstitutional in the current version.
Therefore, the school district is NOT suing for the right to raise the local tax rate. The school district is suing to get the courts to declare the system broken and to compel the legislature to "do something."
(I highlighted that paragraph because it constitutes the simplest affirmative answer to your question I can frame.)
So then, assuming outcome #2 (i.e. the legislature is compelled to "do something," what might they do?
Anybody's guess. One outcome I know Allen ISD would love to see is for the legislature to let us have our revenue per student calculated based on our 2012 total property wealth - not stay frozen at 2006 total valuation.All this fabulous growth in the city has not made a dime's worth of difference to our school district when calculated as spending per student. That one change would at least put Allen on a level playing field with the neighboring districts.
