AUSTIN — As home values rise in Austin, homeowners are going to have to cough up a little more money in taxes for their neighborhood schools.
According to KVUE's media partners at the Austin-American Statesman, homeowners with a residence valued at $397,407 will be expected to pay roughly $400 more in school taxes. The Statesman reports the school board did not change the tax rate. Instead, the change can be attributed to increasing home values -- pushing the cost to 9 percent more than the previous year.
The Austin ISD approved a $1.6 billion budget in June that offers a 1.5 percent salary increase for teachers, support for school safety and funds for reinventing the urban school experience. However, an estimated 670 million in local taxes is expected to be sent to the state due to recapture. The plan requires property-rich districts to send money to the state; that money is then re-distributed to poorer districts.