PISD VATRE 2024

VATRE Goals

On August 19, 2024, the Perryton Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) on the November 2024 ballot. A VATRE is a tax that allows school districts to ask the public to approve a tax rate that exceeds the district’s calculated maximum compressed tax rate. Our proposal DOES NOT raise the total tax rate,  but rather gives us the ability to move pennies of tax between tax categories. By approving the VATRE, the total tax rate will be the same as it was last year, which was $1.02 per $100 valuation. We are only proposing that we move 3 pennies of tax to the maintenance and operations fund, which will allow the district to give teachers raises and buy equipment, such as a bus. With voter approval, we will be able to do this without raising the tax rate or adopting a deficit budget.

Why a VATRE?

The short answer is that it is required by law. Anytime a school district adds maintenance and operations tax above a certain dollar amount (called the maximum compressed tax rate or MCR), then the voters of the district must approve it. That requires Perryton ISD to have an election even though we ARE NOT raising the total tax rate. If the VATRE passes, the district will move $0.03 cents from the Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax section and put it into Maintenance and Operations (M&O), allowing the district to increase salaries for our staff and purchase a new bus for our students. Perryton ISD is already in a noticeable deficit compared to other similar sized districts in the area, in terms of salary. The table belows shows the current status. The $0.03 cents will be supplemented by the State of Texas at a ratio of 2:1, so the end result is that PISD will have an additional $1 million dollars to pay for the staff raises.