Future funding for Frisco ISD on Monday’s Board of Trustees agenda

Wade Glover

Wade Glover, WTV Executive Producer

Whether or not to put bond and tax swap measures on the November ballot is the focus of Monday’s Frisco ISD Board of Trustees meeting that begins at 7:30 p.m. at the district administration building.

If the board decides to call for a November vote, this would put local taxes on the ballot for the second time in a little more than two years.

The proposed tax change is different from the TRE in 2016, as this adjustment would create a 2-cent drop in the tax rate.

“Basically what is lays out for the voter is they’re voting , they would be voting for a bond if our board approves it, and they would be voting for a tax increase,” FISD Superintendent Dr. Mike Waldrip said in an exclusive interview. “But what the board will do if both measures pass, is they’ll actually decrease part of the tax rates, so over all, the homeowner will see a 2-cent drop in their tax rate as applied to there, so they’ll see a decrease in their school taxes.”

If a bond and tax swap election is put the voters in November, it would generate funds for the construction of buildings, rather than the day-to-day operations of schools such as teacher salaries..

“Now the TRE is a separate issue because the funds that we’re proposing to raise with this bond are to build brick and mortar facilities and improve and expand programs,” Waldrip said. “We can’t use those funds to pay teachers salaries and provide resources for teachers to use in the classroom, most resources that teachers use and the TRE really runs in parallel with the bond as we expand programs and hire more teachers and do more things we have to have the money to pay teachers salaries and pay their benefits and provide the materials and resources they need to teach the courses they teach.”

For the tax/bond swap to be on November’s ballot, a majority of the seven Board of Trustees must approve the move.