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Weslaco ISD board adopts slightly lower 2025–26 tax rate, approves projects and contracts
Summary
Trustees on Sept. 15 adopted a total property tax rate of 0.9433 per $100 of assessed value — a 0.51% decrease from last year — and approved final completions for athletic turf projects and two legal-counsel contracts. District leaders said the change and recent state homestead exemptions will lower the average homeowner’s tax bill.
Weslaco Independent School District trustees voted Sept. 15 to adopt a property tax rate of 0.9433 per $100 of assessed taxable value for the 2025–26 year, district officials said. The adopted rate breaks down to a maintenance and operations (M&O) rate of 0.7291 and a debt-service rate of 0.2142.
Superintendent Richard Rivera and business staff told the board the adopted rate represents about a 0.51% decrease from the prior year. Staff said the district’s certified taxable value for the year is roughly $3.5 billion and that a recent increase in the state homestead exemption (from $100,000 to $140,000) contributes to an estimated average homeowner tax decrease of about $237.
Rivera and staff framed the M&O portion as funding day‑to‑day operations — salaries, utilities and routine expenses — and the debt-service portion as money to pay bonds used for large capital projects such as roofing, HVAC and athletic facilities. Rivera reviewed the district’s bond history and loans, noting the district passed a $160 million bond election in 2024 and that bond proceeds, not M&O, finance major construction.
At the meeting trustees also approved several consent and construction items by voice vote, including final completion of the synthetic turf replacement at the district stadium (CSP 250339) and the baseball/softball field turf at Westco East High School (CSP 250806). The superintendent reported a small contract credit and recommended final acceptance; trustees approved the items without recorded roll-call tallies.
The board approved adjustments to legal‑counsel contracts: administration said Walsh Gallegos requested an hourly increase (backup materials show the firm’s per‑hour rate and retainer) and another outside counsel requested an increase to $250 per hour with a monthly retainer; trustees approved both contract items by motion and voice vote.
The board conducted the public hearing required for tax-rate adoption earlier in the evening and then moved to the regular meeting where Trustee Ben Castillo moved to adopt the rate and Coach Armando Cuellar seconded; the motion carried on a voice vote.
What happens next: the adopted rate will be used in tax calculations for the 2025–26 fiscal year and appears alongside the district’s forthcoming budget documents and transparency postings on the district website, officials said.
