District holding town hall meetings on proposed bond

A small group of Hallettsville Independent School District voters attended last Wednesday evening’s (Oct. 2) town hall meeting regarding the bond proposed by the district concerning the construction of a new gymnasium/multi-purpose facility. 

A panel that included members of the HISD administrative and coaching staff as well as the designer of the proposed project and the district’s financial advisor were present to answer questions submitted by the public. 

The group fielded questions including: 

• What would happen to the buildings located next to the current gymnasium? 

Removal of some of the buildings would be left up to the board’s decision and some, especially the weight room, would continue to be used. 

• What was removed from the bond? 

Taken out of the May bond included improvements, including bathroom facilities, at the baseball/softball field. Since the fields are leased from the city to the district, a different approach will be researched to meet those needs. 

• Why are the plans for the facility to be located next to the football stadium?

By constructing it at the stadium, it would allow for greater parking for basketball and volleyball games as well as other functions held at the facility. In addition, it would increase restroom facilities at the field as well as adequate dressing rooms. 

• How would student scheduling be addressed with the facility located a distance from the high school? 

Currently students are bussed to the stadium for workouts and the new facility would allow for meeting the need of an increase in the number of students/athletes. Also, the school administration would look into the possibility of scheduling the athletic period for all athletes during final class period of the day. 

• Is the $100 homestead permanent exemption considered to be permanent?

Simple answer is yes, the Texas State Legislature passed the bill regarding the tax exemption.

The district plans to hold two more town hall meetings with one held Wednesday evening, Oct. 9 starting at 6 p.m. at the high school gymnasium and another held on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. in the gym.

Voting on the Bond Voting for registered voters in HISD on the proposed bond will take place Tuesday, Nov. 5 with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In person early voting will start Monday, Oct. 21 and be held every day through Friday, Nov. 1 and will be held at the Lavaca County Courthouse Annex building located at 412 N. Texana St.

Early voting hours will vary on those days. 

Check for times with the Lavaca County election administrators office or see the article appearing in today’s paper on early voting.

Bond Details 

On Aug. 12 the HISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to place a $25.956 million bond issue before the voters. 

The bond calls for the construction a new gym/multipurpose facility to be constructed at the Hallettsville Brahma Memorial Football Stadium. 

Currently, HISD has 1,175 students attending school in the district. They field 13 basketball teams and nine volleyball teams.

There are 141 female and 171 male athletes participating and with the increase in sports offered as well as students involved, the district is trying the meet those needs. 

Also, Hallettsville competes in a 3A district with all schools having three or more gyms. The new facility would include adequate dressing rooms, weight room facilities and equipment as well as many other areas to be met. 

Regarding property tax, the state assigns two types of budgets including methods and operations (M&O) rate and interest and sinking (I&S) rate with each rate having a distinct rate and form in the overall district’s tax rate. 

A bond election is a way for district boards to ask voters permission to sell bonds in raising money for capital projects, such as building and renovating schools. The bonds are sold by financial institutions which provide the money to the school district.

The school district pays back the bond and interest over time using tax money (the I&S rate). 

In addition, the Texas legislature introduced a $100 thousand property tax reduction. For information and details regarding the bond visit hisdbrahmas.org/hisdfallbond.ysis, 

The life expectancy of a public educational building is 50 years. 

The state assigns two types of budgets to school districts: The revenues for these budgets are generated by two tax rates; the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) tax rate and the Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax rate.

M&O revenues come from both local taxes and state funding with the M&O budget for instructional and everyday expenses. The I&S revenues are for paying down principal and interest on voter approved bonds. 

Each budget has a distinct tax rate based on local property values which together form the district’s overall tax rate. 

School bonds are a way for school districts to raise money for capital projects, such as building or renovating schools and purchasing materials and equipment, by borrowing money from investors. 

The process is similar to a home mortgage, where voters decide whether to give the school district permission to take out a loan. 

How School Bonds Work 

• Voters decide: The school board calls a bond election to ask voters for permission to sell bonds. 

• Bonds are sold: A financial institution sells the bonds and provides the money to the school district. 

• Bonds are paid back: The school district pays back the bond and interest over time using tax money (I&S tax rate). 

Recent legislation has introduced the largest property tax rate reduction in Texas history. The combination of tax rate compression, which is part of the state’s current financing formula, and a $100,000 homestead exemption will decrease school property taxes annually for the average-priced home on homesteaded properties. 

The average market value of a home in Hallettsville ISD is $222,169. According to the example below, the taxable value after the homestead exemption on the average home value is $122,169. The interest and sinking tax increase to pay back the bonds on the gym/multipurpose facility would be 8 cents resulting in a monthly cost of $8.14 or $97.74 annually to a taxpayer who owns a home with the average home value in Hallettsville ISD. 

For others in Hallettsville ISD, who own homes that have a higher value or lower value, the tax impact can be calculated using the chart below.

Property owners aged 65 and older can file an exemption for school district taxes. Upon filing, no matter the school district’s tax rate, nor the value of your property, your taxes to your school district have a ceiling also known as a freeze. 

Your dollar amount owed will never exceed that ceiling from the date the exemption is granted. If improvements are made to your homestead in the future, your ceiling may increase but only for the improved section’s value (i.e. pool, barn, addition). 

The impact of the bond will have no effect to an individual’s homestead taxes that are aged 65 and older. Bond Town Hall Meetings Bond town hall meetings will be held at the HHS Gym on Ridge Street at 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Oct. 9 and 16.

At these meetings, HISD administrators, architects, and district financial advisors will present information about the bond proposition, answer questions about the design and financial impact of the project, and provide tours of the current gym and athletic facilities. 

Voting 

The deadline to register to vote in the November 5 election is October 7. 

Additional election details are available on the Lavaca County Elections website at https://www.co.lavaca.tx.us/page/lavaca.Elections.

The bond election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and early voting will be from Monday, Oct. 21, to Friday, Nov. 1. 

For more information concerning the HISD bond election, consult the HISD website at www.hisdbrahmas.org/hisdfallbond.

Jimmy Appelt can be reached at jimmy.appelt@lavacacountytoday.com.