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District attorneys report 98.32% tax collection rate; taxable-value audit returned $1.5M
Summary
McCray Law Firm attorneys told trustees Waco ISD collected 98.32% of current-year taxes; the firm reported about 150 suits filed, 68 properties posted for sale (about 20 sold), and a taxable-value audit that produced $1,500,000 in additional state aid.
WACO ' Attorneys for Waco ISD explained the district's delinquent tax-collection work and recent results during a board presentation.
Robert Myers of McCray Law Firm, who told trustees he has represented the district in property-tax collections for more than four decades, said the district collected 98.32% of its taxes in the most recent school fiscal year. "The district collected 98.32% of its taxes in the last current, school fiscal year from the tax year from October 1 through August 31, 2024," Myers said.
Myers and colleague Connor Buchanan described collection activity, noting the firm filed roughly 150 suits during the year, posted 68 properties for tax sale and saw about two dozen of those properties sell. Buchanan said most properties that proceed to sale are vacant or abandoned lots and often end up with the city or a purchaser who will return them to productive use on the tax rolls.
The attorneys also described a taxable-value audit the firm filed with the Texas State Comptroller that reviewed appraisal adjustments going back two years; Buchanan said that audit returned $1,500,000 in additional state aid to the district for the 2021 tax year adjustments. Myers said legislative changes and an expanded homestead exemption reduced the district's levy (he cited a decline in the tax levy from about $103,000,000 to about $86,000,000 between 2022 and 2023), which he noted as an important context for recent collection figures.
Myers also told trustees he will retire after this year; he reflected on his 44-year relationship with the district and introduced Connor Buchanan as the attorney who will succeed him in representing the district for collections.
What trustees heard and asked: Board members requested more detail about the categories of delinquent accounts (Myers said senior homestead deferrals are the largest single category of unpaid levies), collection timing and how the firm works with taxpayers to arrange payment plans. Buchanan described outreach and bilingual services the firm provides and said many cases resolve before sale.
Next steps: The report was informational. Trustees thanked Myers for his long service and welcomed Buchanan as the continuing counsel for the district.
