Tax Information
How are bonds paid back?
Debt payments come from a small portion of your local property taxes. Each year, the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees sets a tax rate that has two parts. The larger part is the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) portion. It pays for salaries, utilities, supplies, and routine maintenance for buses and buildings. The smaller portion is the Interest and Sinking (I&S) fund, and it cannot be used for day-to-day expenses such as salaries, only debt.
In Round Rock, trustees recently approved an overall tax rate is $0.8931 per $100 of property valuation, which is a 2.59-cent decrease from 2023–24. Of that total, the M&O rate is $0.7101 and the I&S rate is $0.1830. The $0.8931 tax rate is the lowest rate of surrounding school districts and the lowest rate in Round Rock ISD in more than 35 years.
Surrounding Districts – Total Tax Rate Comparison
Round Rock ISD
2023–24: $0.9190
2024–25: $0.8931*
Change: -$0.0259**
2023–24: $0.8595*
2024–25: $0.9505
Change: $0.0910†
Georgetown ISD
2023–24: $1.0467
2024–25: $1.0544
Change: $0.0077
Hutto ISD
2023–24: $1.2075
2024–25: $1.2052
Change: -$0.0023
Leander ISD
2023–24: $1.1087
2024–25: $1.0869
Change: $0.0218
Pflugerville ISD
2023–24: $1.1092
2024–25: $1.1069
Change: -$0.0023
* Lowest Tax Rate
** Largest Decrease
† Largest Increase
Will the bond increase my tax rate?
The bond will not increase your tax rate if it is approved. Because Round Rock ISD has been paying down bond debt, it can add new debt without significant increases in its annual debt payment. Plus, as the region grows, the Round Rock tax base also grows, which generates more I&S money to pay District debt.
How is it possible to borrow $998 million and NOT raise the tax rate?
Think of your household budget—the best time to buy something new is after you’ve paid off something else. Imagine you took out a loan to buy a car for $300 per month. That $300 car payment becomes a fixed expense in your monthly budget, with your mortgage or rent payment. When your car loan is paid off, you have $300 available to replace your car, pay off other debt, or invest in braces for your kids, without changing your total monthly expenses. Round Rock ISD is like you—it has paid off enough of its annual debt to absorb new debt.
Another reason the bond isn’t expected to raise the tax rate is because the District won’t borrow all the money immediately. Bond sales will happen in four phases. This spreads out borrowing, and it allows time for projects to be planned and implemented. New facilities require planning before construction starts; major renovations might have to be done in the summer only; and for some projects, such as replacing playground equipment and HVAC systems across the District, there simply isn’t the labor even if the District wanted to spend all the money immediately.
Who is setting this high value for my house and property?
Appraisal values are set by the Williamson and Travis County Central Appraisal Districts, and appraisal values are based on market value. Property taxes are determined by property values and the tax rate. If you are like most everyone in Central Texas, your property tax appraisal is rising. People and companies love Central Texas and continue to move here—and that popularity is driving up property values.
Total Tax Impact for Homeowners
Tax Year 2024 Taxable Value = Average 2% increase, based on guidance from Williamson County Appraisal District
Tax Year 2023 – Taxable Value of Residence: $750,000
- Total Tax Rate per $100 Valuation: $0.9190
- Tax Levy: $6,892.50
Tax Year 2024 – Taxable Value of Residence: $765,000
- Total Tax Rate per $100 Valuation: $0.8931
- Tax Levy: $6,832.22
- Savings: $60.28
Tax Year 2023 – Taxable Value of Residence: $500,000
- Total Tax Rate per $100 Valuation: $0.9190
- Tax Levy: $4,595.00
Tax Year 2024 – Taxable Value of Residence: $510,000
- Total Tax Rate per $100 Valuation: $0.8931
- Tax Levy: $4,554.81
- Savings: $40.19
Tax Year 2023 – Average Taxable Value of Residence: $374,555
- Total Tax Rate per $100 Valuation: $0.9190
- Tax Levy: $3,442.16
Tax Year 2024 – Average Taxable Value of Residence: $383,201
- Total Tax Rate per $100 Valuation: $0.8931
- Tax Levy: $3,422.37
- Savings: $19.79
If property values continue to rise, why doesn’t Round Rock ISD have more money for remodeling, renovations and repairs without a bond?
The M&O budgeting system in Texas is designed so that when property values rise, state funding decreases. You might have heard about the state’s “Robin Hood” or recapture payments—the state uses a complex formula to try to reduce disparities in school district funding across the state. When local property “wealth” grows faster than state-formulated weighted average daily attendance (WADA), the state redistributes that “wealth” to property “poor” school districts. That means districts can’t get the full benefit of rising local property values.
For 2024, $118.75 of the average homeowner’s tax bill was paid to the state as recapture payments. Next year, that portion is expected to rise to $146.82.
Meanwhile the District faces higher costs in recruiting and retaining teachers, providing supplies, busing and security for nearly 50,000 students every year, and many other operational expenses.
If “Robin Hood” means the state is taking a larger share of local property tax dollars, can’t the tax rate go down to equal what Round Rock ISD can keep?
This goes back to how the school funding system works in Texas. The state recapture system works to minimize wide differences in funding at local districts. To decide whether a district is “wealthy”, the state compares its property values to all the other districts in the state. The state then sets the Maximum Compressed Rate (MCR) for each district based on the property values across the state. This is the lowest tax rate a school district can adopt for M&O purposes. If a school district were to adopt a lower rate, it would not receive the full amount of their Tier One entitlement under the Foundation School Program.