Crowley school district voters passed a measure Wednesday to raise the property tax rate by 13 cents. The increase will net the school district an extra $7.6 million in operating money.
The new total tax rate will be $1.67 per $100 of property value. An owner of a $135,000 home, the average in the Crowley district, will pay an extra $114 a year in property tax. The tax increase passed by a two-thirds vote in the two-county district.Tarrant County voters passed the measure by 67.35 percent (819 votes) to 32.65 percent (397 votes). Johnson County voters rejected it by 86.21 percent against (25 votes) to 13.79 percent for (4 votes).The total was 66.1 percent passing (823 votes) to 33.9 percent against (422 votes)."It's pretty overwhelming," said school spokesperson Anthony Kirchner on Thursday. "We were really pleased with the results. This balances our budget and provides us with a small amount of surplus."If the proposition had failed, Crowley school administrators would have been looking at a $7.4 million budget shortfall for the 2012-13 school year. In election materials, they said that would have depleted the district's $12.9 million fund balance within two years.The district has trimmed $1.5 million in expenses over the past few years, including eliminating 272 employee jobs and 30 percent of central administration positions."This says to us that our taxpayers value education in Crowley ISD," Kirchner said. "We all slept really well last night."Shirley Jinkins, 817-390-7657Twitter: @startelegramHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
