CFISD Removal of your Homestead Exemption

[Admin]

Please contact CFISD board@cfisd.net with your opinions regarding this matter.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6853932 (http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6853932)

[ghester]

That would not be good. Hopefully, Cy Fair can find another way to meet budget. thanks for the link.

[Admin]

Here's a copy of an email I just received:

June 10, 2009

Dear Key Communicator:

An action item regarding the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD's 20% Optional Homestead Exemption (OHE) was anticipated to be placed on the June 15, 2009 meeting agenda for the CFISD Board of Trustees. However, the Board will not take action on the OHE at this meeting in order to allow State Sen. Dan Patrick the opportunity to address the state's inequitable funding of CFISD with officials in Austin.

In an email to Cy-Fair community members, Senator Patrick stated that he was working every hour and talking to everyone in authority he could in Austin, and in the district, to find a positive solution for both the district and the taxpayers. He has been open to listening, and he understands the issues. Senator Patrick knows that the district has until the end of the month to adopt the budget for 2009-2010. He is committed to making every effort to resolve this situation so that neither the district nor the homeowners are punished by the flawed state funding formulas.

The CFISD Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet at a special-called meeting on June 25, 2009. The Board has also postponed its goal-setting workshop, originally scheduled for June 11, until after the budget is adopted.

We appreciate your continuous support for CFISD.

Sincerely,
David Anthony, Ed.D.

[Admin]

Please FORWARD to your CY-FAIR friends, neighbors and email lists.
ALL Homeowners, Business Owners and Voters MUST voice to VETO this bill.

We are in direct communication with Senator Dan Patrick’s office, Rep. Scott Hochberg and Dr. David Anthony on this issue.
This bill is 95% going to happen (20% homestead exemption elimination / 30% tax increase) without your voice.

Keep emailing (EACH DAY through June 21) to the following list of officials (spouses to also email):

(sample response – cut and paste)
“Please request Governor Rick Perry VETO House Bill 3646 and re-address the inequities in public education funding through special session. Also fix current year with discretionary means. Texas school funding is broken and Cy-Fair has become the prime example of this in 2009. HB3646 has gross inequity and misinformation in Cy-Fair funding. Cy-Fair trails funding of other peer ISD’s by a wide margin. HB3646 will cause CFISD to revoke the 20% homestead exemption, raise taxes 30%, thereby making homes less marketable and dropping home values. CFISD is the 3rd largest in Texas, fastest-growing and one of the lowest funded districts.”

http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/assistance.aspx (quick web form)
scott.hochberg@house.state.tx.us
dan.patrick@senate.state.tx.us
florence.shapiro@senate.state.tx.us


“First, please understand that everyone involved in education in Austin acknowledges that Cy Fair is not properly funded. As one person, who is an authority on education, said to me today, Cy Fair is the poster child for everything that is wrong with education funding in Texas. Our system is broken and must be addressed.” State Senator Dan Patrick, District 7, Cy-Fair, June 11, 2009

“I am a firm believer that as a citizen, if one is not involved in their government, at all levels, they are not going to be informed on the issues and policies that can, and will, impact their life.” State Senator Dan Patrick, District 7, Cy-Fair, June 11, 2009

Note: Senator Dan Patrick must be optimistic (as our representative who intends to be re-elected) but cannot guarantee any resolution.
There are no guarantees this will be fixed. Therefore, each and every Cy-Fair voice must be heard (daily through June 21).

(for more information - CFISD data: http://www.cfisd.net/aboutour/sod2009_june.pdf )

[Admin]

BACKGROUND

ISSUE:
- Cy-Fair ISD is facing a $28.8M deficit this year, increasing to over $100M in 2013 due to inequitable State funding from House Bill 3646
- If Governor Rick Perry signs HB3646 by June 21, 2009, CFISD will receive inequitably lower funding compared to other peer districts, will then be locked into this deficit and must fund by it eliminating the 20% homestead exemption
CAUSE:
- HB3646 (Rep. Hochberg, Author and Chairman) addresses current state school funding (inequitably for Cy-Fair and other districts)
- Cy-Fair ISD is THE prime example of inequity and under-funding in Texas schools due to large size, treated as rural, high growth requirements and lack of significant business tax base (Cy-Fair’s tax base is primarily homes)
note: Cy-Fair is the 3rd largest and THE fastest-growing ISD in Texas
RESULT:
- A VETO of HB3646 will force a special session to be held to re-address the inequities in public school funding
- If not VETOED, the next State legislative meeting is 2011 – meaning almost certain and permanent elimination of the 20% homestead exemption this year
- Elimination of 20% Homestead Exemption will cause a 30% increase in annual taxes, greatly and permanently reduce property values and future tax base for CFISD
- New home buyers and realtors will perceive Cy-Fair as a higher tax ‘no exemption’ district
SOLUTION:
- This is a long-term State funding and CFISD cost management issue - NOT A TAXPAYER ISSUE
- Get CFISD State funding equal to Tomball, Katy, Klein, Spring Branch – each year
- The 470 positions (8 employees) eliminated in 2008-2009 were necessary eliminations, CFISD to stay on a diet
NOTES:
- HB3646:
Funding: CFISD = $4707 vs Tomball = $5903 (Tomball: $1196 MORE than CFISD per student)
(note: if CFISD exemption is removed, Tomball would still be $910 MORE than CFISD per student)
Spend: CFISD = $6180 vs Tomball = $7760 (CFISD: $1580 LESS than TOMBALL per student)
- School construction (including Berry Center) is financed through the issuance of bonds, not State school funding for maintenance & operations
- Berry Center has no bearing on this issue (and was constructed before David Anthony, Ed.D took office)
- CFISD’s new construction has consistently been 15% less cost per square foot than adjacent school districts ($120.72 vs. $139.37)

To cover and fund this inequity, the Cy-fair School District proposes the removal of your 20% homestead exemption resulting in a 30% increase in your property taxes. This equates to approximately a $717.50 tax INCREASE PER YEAR for a $250,000.00 home ($287.00 per $100K valuation). In addition, if the homestead exemption is removed, your Cy-Fair home will be perceived as less desirable by buyers and realtors due to the loss of homestead exemption. Realtors will sell houses elsewhere in Houston that retain the homestead exemption before they will sell yours in the Cy-Fair School District.

Texas State Legislative Rep. Scott Hochberg, Houston-D, is the author of House Bill 3646. It is the general understanding that he believes Cy-Fair should remove the homestead exemption. It is also our understanding that Rep. Hochberg and Senator Florence Shapiro, Chair of the Texas Senate Education Committee, have not addressed the Cy-Fair data inaccuracies and inequitable funding after repeated requests to do so.

[Admin]

Texas State Senate Education Committee
Sen. Florence Shapiro (florence.shapiro@senate.state.tx.us), Chair
Sen. Dan Patrick (dan.patrick@senate.state.tx.us), Vice Chair (also Cy-Fair’s State Senator, District7)
Sen. Tommy Williams (tommy.williams@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (leticia.vandeputte@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Royce West (royce.west@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Mario Gallegos (mario.gallegos@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Steve Ogden (steve.ogden@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Wendy Davis (wendy.davis@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Kip Averitt (kip.averitt@senate.state.tx.us)
Representative Scott Hochberg (Author and Chair of HB3646, from Houston)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Governor Rick Perry
T 512-463-2000
email: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/assistance.aspx (http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/assistance.aspx)

Robert Scott
State of Texas Education Commissioner
T 512-463-8985
email: robert.scott@tea.state.tx.us

Chair of the Texas House Public Education Committee
Rob Eissler
Tel: 512-463-0797
email: rob.eissler@house.state.tx.us

State Representative Scott Hochberg
Houston Area
Tel: 512-463-0492
email: scott.hochberg@house.state.tx.us

Senator Florence Shapiro
Chairwoman of the Texas Senate Education Committee
T 512-463-0108
email: florence.shapiro@senate.state.tx.us

Senator Dan Patrick
Tel: 512-463-0107
email: dan.patrick@senate.state.tx.us

[Admin]

Thank you for your note regarding state funding for CFISD. I apologize
for responding in a form letter, but the number of emails I have been
forwarded prevents me from responding personally to each.

Unfortunately, the call to veto HB 3646 is based on inaccurate or false
information. I have tried to find the source of this misinformation, but
nobody has yet claimed it, and Dr. Anthony says the email that is being
distributed calling for a veto should not be attributed to him.

Here are the facts:

1.) HB 3646 does not penalize CFISD. In fact, according to Commissioner
of Education Robert Scott, CFISD will receive an estimated $27.6 million
increase in its state funding per year over what it would receive
otherwise. That's at least twice the increase per student that the
surrounding districts, to which CFISD is being compared, will receive.

2.) Vetoing HB 3646 will not force a special legislative session. The
money funding HB 3646 is federal stimulus money, and, if HB 3646 is not
in place, Texas must distribute the money according to federal formulas,
which will not benefit CFISD, or must return the money.

3.) Even if a special legislative session were called, it would not
necessarily benefit CFISD. Districts that are getting less than CFISD
per student outnumber those receiving more, so it's at least as likely
that CFISD would end up worse off in the deal.

4.) In addition to the $27.6 million that CFISD will get from HB 3646,
the Commissioner estimates that CFISD will receive another $27 million
in one-time federal stimulus money flowing directly to the district
between now and Sept., 2011.

5.) There is no "inaccurate data" used in HB 3646, in fact the bill does
not contain the specific allocation that any district will receive. The
bill increases the funding of existing formulas, but does not determine
how much any specific district will receive. The allocation for CFISD,
like any other district, will be based on data that CFISD submits to the
Texas Education Agency regarding its student attendance and tax
collections. If this data is inaccurate or does not match pre-year
estimates, the district will settle up with the state after the school
year ends, as always.

6.) I have never said that CFISD should eliminate its homestead
exemption. In fact, I carried legislation to increase the homestead
exemption for all Texas homeowners, at state expense. Nobody has been
able to tell me why this comment is being attributed to me, and nobody I
can find has heard me say or imply this.

7.) The districts that are being compared to CFISD as having more
funding either have no homestead exemption or have higher tax rates, and
therefore have more tax dollars. According to the State Comptroller,
Klein, Tomball, Spring and Katy ISDs (and others) have no optional
homestead exemption at all, compared with CFISD's 20% exemption. That
gives those districts a 10% advantage in tax revenue right off the bat
compared with CFISD. Spring Branch ISD has a homestead exemption, like
CFISD, but it has a higher tax rate.

8.) HB 3646 does not increase gaps between CFISD and other districts.
It lowers gaps that have historically been in place. It does not reduce
money available to CFISD, but actually increases state funding by
significantly more than it does for the other districts mentioned.
Further, it contains an automatic "escalator" clause that increases
CFISD's funding even further, without increasing funding for the other
districts, if state property values increase faster than student growth,
which has occurred almost every year.

Finally, if there is to be a tax increase in CFISD, you should know that
eliminating the homestead exemption is not the district's only choice.
The district could instead increase the tax rate, in which case the
business community would share the increase with homeowners. The
district would need to pass an election to increase the tax rate, while
it would not need an election to eliminate or cut the homestead
exemption.

I appreciate your interest in public education and that you have taken
the time to write.

Sincerely,

Scott Hochberg
State Representative
District 137 - Southwest Houston

[Figyra]

This post is*very*informative.*Thank you!