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The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD school board listens to Chief Financial Officer Robb Welch as he explains the 2024-25 property tax rate on Aug. 26, 2024. (Jacob Sanchez | Fort Worth Report)
” data-medium-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/EMSISDTax1_Sanchez-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/EMSISDTax1_Sanchez-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button”>Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD trustees adopted a slightly lower property tax rate for the 2024-25 school year.The school board cut a fraction of a penny off the rate, but higher property values from the Tarrant Appraisal District likely means some homeowners may see an increase in their tax bill. The Aug. 26 vote was unanimous.The new tax rate is $1.2457 per $100 of valuation, a .15 cent decrease from the district’s 2023-24 school year rate of $1.2472. The district adjusted the two smaller rates that form the overall tax: maintenance-and-operations rate and debt service rate. The debt service rate slightly increased .08 cents to 49.88 cents. Chief Financial Officer Robb Welch attributed the minute bump to the $561.1 million bond voters approved in November 2023. The bond will be used to fund the construction of four new schools and other improvements in the high-growth Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD.The maintenance-and-operations rate dropped .23 cents to 74.69 cents. While school boards have more latitude with the debt service rate, the maintenance-and-operations rate is effectively in autopilot with the Texas Education Agency telling districts the maximum rate they can levy. Typically to bring in the same amount of revenue as the previous year, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD trustees would have had to adopt the no-new-revenue rate of $1.2253. However, that rate would have meant a cut of $2.5 million in revenue during an already tight budget year, Welch said.“It’s not the same revenue level because it does not take into account what happens with the state funding side of our funds,” the CFO said.School districts are funded through three major sources: local funds, which are the highest percentage of revenue; state funds; and federal funds, the smallest portion of a district’s budget.How does the new tax rate affect my school taxes?

Under the new tax rate, the average taxpayer in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD can expect to pay slightly more to the school district during the 2024-25 academic year.

The average home in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD has an appraised value of $347,456, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District. However, only $250,501 of the value is used for taxes. Exemptions, such as the $100,000 homestead exemption that rolled out in 2023, are included in that figure.

The average property tax bill to Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD would be $3,120.49 — $122.61 more than what the average homeowner paid in 2023.

Last year, the average home in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD had an appraised value of $358,026 and only $240,369 was used for taxes. That homeowner paid $2,997.88 in property taxes to Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD.Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.