The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees has lowered the district tax for the third straight year in a row to the lowest Frisco ISD has seen in more than 20 years. 

The district’s budget for the 2020-2021 school year was approved by the board in June and was based on a lower taxable value growth.

“We did budget a significant surplus for this budget year because we weren’t sure what was going to happen due to COVID[-19], enrollment, taxable values [and] expenses related to COVID mitigation,” Frisco ISD Chief Financial Officer Kimbery Smith said at the Sept. 28 board meeting. “We just felt it was reasonable to keep a nice cushion in there, and so this just kind of erodes some of that surplus we had projected.”

The board approved a combined tax rate of $1.31 per $100 property evaluation, a 2.81 cent reduction from 2019. 

“Anytime I’m paying less it’s more disposable income for me,” economics teacher Fred Kaiser said. “I can go spend it on things I want to spend it on instead of getting it withdrawn from my mortgage payments.” 

The tax rate decrease will likely save the average Frisco ISD tax payer approximately $92 this year, even as the value of the average residence in Frisco ISD climbed $1,667 to $406,166.

“Overall I think they’re in line with a lot of other folks, a lot of other places, since such a large portion of our tax does go to public schools and we have very highly ranked public schools here and you kind of get what you pay for,” Kaiser said. “I’ve taught in districts where the property tax was significantly lower, but you also didn’t have nearly as high quality education or buildings or opportunities for the students, so it’s one of those you get what you pay for.”