PHARR - The Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District (PSJA ISD) Board of Trustees approved lowering the tri-city school district’s tax rate for the 2022-2023 school year to a rate of $1.1837 during a regular school board meeting held Monday, September 26, 2022.
The PSJA ISD School Board approved the reduction for an overall tax rate of $1.1837 per $100 valuation. The rate includes $.9746 for the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) fund and $.2091 for the Interest and Sinking (I&S) fund.
PSJA’s M&O fund is used for daily district operations, such as paying for salaries, utilities, supplies, insurance, equipment, and contracted services, among other expenses. Teacher salaries, counselor salaries, principal salaries, property insurance, electricity, and fuel are all examples of operating expenses. The District’s I&S fund, or debt service, is the district’s tax effort to assist with the repayment of bonds.
“Thank you to our School Board for approving this lower tax rate,” said PSJA Superintendent Dr. Jorge L. Arredondo during the Board Meeting. “We are grateful to be able to provide some relief to our taxpayers and thank them for their continued support.”
Due to the work behind managing the district’s budget, the PSJA School Board praised Superintendent Dr. Arredondo and his Administration for a job well done.
“As a Board, we have been able to strategically reduce the tax rate for the last several years in a row and our hope is to continue doing so in the years ahead,” said PSJA School Board President Ricardo “Rick” Pedraza. “I want to commend our Board and our staff for making sure that our budget is balanced while also allowing us to continue offering high-quality programs for our students and staff without increasing the burden on our taxpayers.”
In addition to adopting a lower tax rate, the PSJA ISD School Board also recently prioritized competitive raises and one-time retention stipends for all employees. With teacher, librarian, counselors and nurses raises at $1,725, a 3% from midpoint raise for all other professionals, a one-time retention stipend of $4,500 for teachers and librarians, and $4,000 one-time retention stipends for all other employees.
These raises went into effect for all employees during the September paychecks.
“I want to highlight the work of our CFO, the team, and our Board of reducing the tax rate for taxpayers. This is probably the 5th year in a row that we've done this,” said PSJA School Board Secretary-Treasurer Jesus A. “Jesse” Zambrano. “Even though property values in our area continue increasing because of economic activity, new businesses, and new homes being built, we're proud to reduce the tax rate and provide some relief to taxpayers."
