HEB ISD board member explains voter-approved tax rate election, says typical homeowner could see lower bill if homestead exemption passes

Chris Brown, a HURST-EULESS-BEDFORD ISD board member, told listeners on Talk Show with Joe that the district is asking voters to approve a voter-approved tax rate election, described in the interview as a 3¢ increase to the district—s maintenance-and-operations property tax rate.

"A new tax? No. It's it's not a new tax. So it's an increase of 3¢ to our existing property tax rate," Brown said. He estimated the increase would generate about $12,000,000 in additional revenue annually and said the amount would be roughly split between local and state funding, reflecting reductions in state education funding made by the Texas Legislature.

Brown said the revenue would pay for ongoing operating needs rather than capital projects. "It's our staff. It's our teachers. It's our career and technology education programs. It's our college prep programs. It's our visual and performing arts programs, our athletic programs. Everything that we do as a district every single day, that's what this funds," he said.

He distinguished the VATRE from the bond election the district recently held, saying the bond funds long-term capital projects by issuing debt while the VATRE is intended to generate recurring operational revenue. "They're two distinct funding buckets, and we can't reach into one bucket to fund the other. They're completely separate," Brown said.

Brown also discussed a separate proposition on the same ballot to increase the homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000. He provided estimates for a typical HEB ISD homeowner: "assuming that that passes, the average HEB ISD homeowner will see a decrease of $340 to their tax bill," and said that "even if the VATRE passes, they'll still see a decrease" of roughly $280 per year in one of his examples. (The recording uses multiple spellings for the election acronym; the district described it as a voter-approved tax rate election during the interview.)

Brown characterized the district—s standing within the county, saying HURST-EULESS-BEDFORD ISD is "the second highest rated school district in Tarrant County, behind only Carroll ISD," and added that, even with the proposed VATRE revenue, HEB ISD would still be among the lower tax rates in the county. He also said more than 600 Texas school districts have held similar VATRE elections.

Community outreach dates were mentioned as a way for residents to learn more. Host Joe told listeners the district would post community-night dates so residents could ask questions and get additional information.

There were no formal votes or board actions taken during this recorded interview; the segment was informational and focused on explaining the measures on the upcoming ballot and the expected effects described by the board member.