Belton ISD trustees discuss disaster pennies, voter tax election and revenue bond to cover storm damage, safety and stadium needs

BELTON, Texas — The Belton Independent School District Board of Trustees met in a special session Wednesday evening to discuss financing options to address recent storm damage, ongoing safety and security costs and aging stadium infrastructure.

District staff told trustees the district has received a final damage assessment of a little more than $3,000,000 from its insurer but still faces a $1,000,000 deductible and tighter operating budgets. Staff reviewed three revenue strategies: a one‑year “disaster pennies” tax increase, a permanent voter‑approved tax‑rate election (VATER) for the same pennies, and a stadium revenue bond backed by gate and related stadium revenues.

The discussion matters because the choices carry different timing, duration and taxpayer impacts. Disaster pennies would provide one year of additional maintenance‑and‑operations revenue; a successful VATER would make the revenue permanent. A revenue bond would not require voter approval but would pledge stadium revenues to pay principal and interest on a project‑specific financing.

District staff presented the damage estimate and the three options during the presentation. “We’ve been assessed a little over $3,000,000 worth of damages that have yet to be addressed,” said Melissa (district staff; full name not specified). She told trustees the district currently holds roughly $500,000 in a line item for facilities needs but that amount was reduced from prior years and is not earmarked specifically for insurance deductibles. “Historically, we would try to set aside about a million dollars … but, as our budget has gotten tighter, that’s pretty much dropped down about a half a million,” Melissa said.

Melissa and other staff explained the technical tax mechanics. The district has about 0.0317 of its maintenance‑and‑operations tax rate (commonly described as 3.17 pennies) still available under Texas law. Under current formulas staff estimated that those pennies could generate up to $2,400,000 under existing law, but added that changes in recently signed legislation (House Bill 2) and compression formulas could reduce the yield and that a more likely estimate may be closer to $2,000,000 annually. “Two point four million is what an additional 3.17 pennies would generate under current law. Now that will change in the formulas … We are expecting that to be less than that,” Melissa said. She also gave a homeowner impact example: “For the average homeowner, it’s about $63 a year for those 3 pennies,” she said, based on current appraisal values.

Staff described how the two tax mechanisms interact. If the board adopted disaster pennies tied to the governor’s disaster declaration the district could increase the tax rate for one year without triggering an automatic voter election. If the board then placed the same amount on a November ballot as a VATER and voters approved it, the VATER would supersede the one‑year disaster increase and make the pennies permanent. Staff warned if a VATER fails, statutory limits would bar another VATER for a defined waiting period and the disaster penny increase would remain only for its one year.

On safety and security funding, staff said state funding in the latest legislative package left a shortfall for local costs such as armed security, vestibules, window film and other mandated items. “It actually costs us around $3,000,000 for our safety and security requirements,” Melissa said; she said the state allotment for those items was roughly $887,000 and thus leaves a gap the district must fill from local sources.

Trustees also heard about a revenue bond option to pay for stadium‑specific capital needs: replacement turf, upgraded stadium lighting and a replacement video scoreboard. Jennifer Ritter, the district’s financial advisor, described that financing vehicle and estimated capacity. “The capacity for a $350,000 annual payment for 10 years would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.5 million,” Ritter said, adding that a required debt service reserve could reduce available construction proceeds and that banks currently favor 10‑year terms for private placements. Ritter provided a near‑term timeline if trustees wished to move quickly: solicitation to banks within weeks, a July award at the July board meeting and funds available in mid‑August, allowing some work before the next football season.

Staff estimated the combined cost for turf, lights and video board at roughly $2.3 million to $2.5 million, and noted those items were omitted or deferred from the 2022 bond. Trustees and staff also discussed which stadium receipts and ancillary revenues would legally and practically be available to secure a stadium revenue bond; staff said gate receipts across the district’s venues were the primary revenue source the bond would pledge and that some concession profits currently operate in an athletics/business account.

Several trustees asked timing and legal questions about the disaster penny window (whether the window is measured by fiscal year or tax year) and staff said the district’s attorneys had advised the district that the district still falls within the statutory window. Staff said no board action was being requested Wednesday to adopt taxes; the discussion was for direction and education ahead of possible July and August board actions.

In a related governance action during the same meeting, the board voted to create a bond advisory committee to review long‑range facilities needs, survey community priorities and advise staff and trustees. The motion to form the committee was approved 6‑0. Staff said the committee would be assembled quickly from prior advisory participants and other stakeholder groups and would meet multiple times over the summer to deliver feedback to the board.

The board workshop concluded with staff promising additional written legal opinions and more detailed budget information in upcoming meetings, including a June workshop that will present updated budget impacts from the new state law.

Votes at a glance

• Motion to form a bond advisory committee per the proposed charter — approved 6‑0. No mover/second recorded in the meeting transcript.