Santa Fe ISD board adopts 2025 tax rate, orders voter election and approves bond propositions

Santa Fe Independent School District trustees on Tuesday adopted a total 2025 tax rate of $1.1014 per $100 of taxable value and voted to call a voter-approved tax ratification election for Nov. 4, 2025. The board also approved a three-proposition school bond to appear on the same ballot, entered a joint-election contract with Galveston County, certified the 2025 appraisal roll, and renewed a facilities agreement with the Santa Fe Historical Foundation.

The board’s action on the tax rate lowers the district’s rate by an effective 3.9 percent compared with last year. District staff told trustees the composite rate is made up of a $0.7522 maintenance-and-operations (M&O) component (down two cents) and a $0.3492 debt-service component (down two cents). Staff also said the rate as presented includes provisions for disaster-related pennies (the district described these as seven additional pennies in total: three “gold” pennies and four “copper” pennies under the state formula). Because the proposed rate crosses the voter-approval threshold under Texas truth-in-taxation rules, the board approved placing the question before voters on Nov. 4, 2025.

Why it matters: even though the district’s tax rate was presented as a legal “increase” in required ballot language,…