(Texas Scorecard) – The Austin ISD board of trustees voted Monday evening to place a property tax increase on the November 2024 ballot.
The move had been signaled since early in the summer. The measure is supposed to cover an anticipated budget deficit of $78 million. District trustees passed a budget of over $1 billion in June.
Austin ISD’s move comes as the district’s enrollment is declining long-term. Over the past five years, the number of students served by Austin ISD has decreased by close to ten percent. This contraction occurred even though Austin has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the entire country for the past quarter century.
In recent years, the district has made national headlines as a center for far-left indoctrination. The district’s annual LGBT “pride” weeks are a recurring source of national ridicule. More recently, district schools have become a hotbed of anti-Israel agitation.
The district’s action drew sharp rebukes from James Quintero and Rob Henneke of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
No wonder families are moving out of AISD as fast as they can.
— Robert Henneke (@robhenneke) August 20, 2024
While the school district’s tax increase is shocking, it’s not alone.
Last week, Travis County placed a separate tax increase election on the ballot, and the Austin City Council passed the largest tax increase they could (along with higher rates for electricity, trash, and water) without requiring an election. Together, these have been described as a “tax bloodbath” for residents of the state’s capital city.