Voters say no to more money for area school districts

McALLEN -- Voters overwhelmingly said no to area school districts asking for more money to pay for construction projects and operating costs.

Only the Rio Grande City school district was successful in passing its $38 million bond proposal to finish a new high school and pay for more construction projects. The measure passed with 2,415 votes in favor and 711 against.

Voters in the Progreso school district rejected a $7 million bond proposal that would have paid for classrooms at its new elementary schools, equipment and land for future projects. The vote was 555 against and 297 in favor of the measure. The school system has been renovating and expanding its current buildings and built a new elementary school to accommodate enrollment growth.

The Mission, Edcouch-Elsa and Hidalgo school districts will have to make cuts to their budgeted spending to keep up with operating costs. Voters in those school systems all denied their districts' requests to raise the property tax rates.

Edcouch-Elsa voters shot down that district's proposal by a vote of 4,200 to 653. Mission school district voters said no in a 2,299-to-1,227 vote. And voters in the Hidalgo district rejected their school system's request by a vote of 1,077 to 625.

Mission and Edcouch-Elsa each asked for an extra 13 cents per $100 of a property's appraised value. The Hidalgo district asked for an 11-cent tax-rate increase to pay the bills and give teachers more money. The rates remain $1.24 per $100 for Mission, $1.258 per $100 for Edcouch-Elsa and $1.32 per $100 for Hidalgo.

In a special legislative session in 2006, the state capped school maintenance and operation tax rates at $1.04 per $100 but allowed districts to ask voters for up to an additional 13 cents per $100. School districts also levy what's called an "interest and sinking" tax, which is earmarked for paying off debts including bond projects.

The state capped funding for school districts at what it gave them three years ago, and it reduces how much it gives them by how much money the districts can collect locally. School district officials have said it is getting harder to come up with the extra money.

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Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.