Trustee updates board on Austin school finance debates; House Bill 2, property tax relief and other measures in play

Boerne ISD trustees on May 20 received a legislative advocacy update outlining active school finance negotiations in Austin, potential property tax relief measures, and other bills that could affect district funding and operations.

Trustee Rich Senna (board liaison for legislative matters) told the board the 2025 regular session was approaching adjournment and that the major education package, House Bill 2, had passed the Texas House and proposed substantial new funding for public education. He summarized key provisions under consideration and differences between the House and Senate approaches.

Why it matters: the package under discussion could inject billions of dollars into Texas public schools, change special education funding and the teacher incentive allotment, and influence district budgets and tax rates.

Senna said House Bill 2 would increase the basic allotment, create an automatic biennial adjustment linked to property values, substantially increase special education funding moving toward an intensity-based model, and boost resources for teacher incentives. He referenced an overall House figure of $7.7 billion in new education funding. "The devils are always in the details," he said, and advised trustees the Senate was expected to modify the House version and likely lower the overall dollar figure.

On property tax relief, Senna said Senate Bill 4 (sponsored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt) proposed raising the school homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000. The measure passed the Senate unanimously and had been favorably reported to the House Ways and Means Committee; trustees were warned that details such as hold-harmless provisions could affect whether the district benefits.

Senna highlighted that the district is generally low on state funding per pupil and that the final bill details would determine the net impact to Boerne ISD. He reported the district planned to send representatives to testify in Austin and continue committee-level outreach.

Other bills discussed included proposals to expand commercial property tax exemptions (House Bill 9) and a classroom device/cellphone ban (House Bill 1481), the latter of which passed the House and was pending in the Senate education committee. He also noted competing House and Senate figures for special education funding (an $1.8 billion House proposal versus a roughly $700 million Senate figure), stressing the final amount remains uncertain.

Trustees asked about timelines and outreach; Senna said many bills must clear committees by a May 15 deadline to reach calendars for floor debate before the June 2 adjournment. He urged continued community contact with legislators. No formal board action was taken on legislative matters at the meeting.