Fort Worth ISD taxpayers could see decrease in property tax bill this year
Fort Worth Independent School District board members approved a tax rate for the 2025-26 fiscal year that will result in a decrease in most property owners’ tax bills due to additional homestead exemptions that are expected to go into effect this year.
The school board approved a tax rate of $1.0291 per $100 of appraised value on Tuesday night, which is higher than a no-new-revenue tax rate of $0.9813 that would have kept the district’s revenue the same as last year. The increase, ranging from roughly 5% to 11% based on two different state formulas that the district is required to calculate, comes after the school board approved a $43.6 million deficit budget over the summer. Fort Worth ISD’s tax rate last year was $1.0624.
The board approved the new rate in a 7-2 vote with board members Michael Ryan and Kevin Lynch dissenting. No community members spoke on the tax rate during public comment before it was passed.
“I support the budget, (Superintendent) Molinar. I support everything that we’re doing to impact kids. I’m having a hard time kind of looking at what we’re doing as far as moving forward,” Lynch said. “We’ve got less students, we’re going to have less buildings and continue to increase the tax burden. I think we need to keep doing what we’re doing and take care of kids. So I can’t support that motion.”
Most property owners will see a decrease in their property tax bills due to increased homestead exemptions that are expected to be approved by voters in November, district officials said. This includes a general homestead exemption increase of $100,000 to $140,000, and a separate exemption for homeowners who are older than 65 or have disabilities that would increase from $10,000 to $60,000.
The owner of a $226,000 property, the median appraised value of properties in the district this year, will pay about $885 in property taxes after applying the increased general homestead exemption. This is a decrease of about $337 when comparing last year’s median appraised value and tax rate with a $100,000 homestead exemption.
Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria, the district’s chief financial officer, said Fort Worth ISD has the second lowest tax rate compared to the 2025-26 proposed rates of surrounding school districts such as Arlington ISD, Keller ISD and Everman ISD. Southlake Carroll ISD has the lowest rate of $0.9602.
“We did our best to get the rates that were available to us, and we still remain the second lowest tax rate overall behind Carroll ISD,” Arrieta-Candelaria, said.
In regards to the district’s deficit budget, officials expect the $43.6 million deficit to decrease to $33 million once it receives incoming funding measures that state lawmakers recently approved during its regular legislative session. This includes funding from House Bill 2, which consists of more than $8 billion in spending such as a $55 increase in the per-student allotment districts receive from the state. Fort Worth ISD’s financial team is developing a three- to five-year financial plan to create a balanced budget for the district in the coming years.
