VATRE stands for Voter Approval Tax Rate Election. It is an election required by the State Legislature to approve a tax rate increase that generates additional revenue for public schools.
If a school district adopts a maintenance & operations (M&O) tax rate that exceeds the maximum amount allowed by state statute, a VATRE must be held to gain voter approval to raise the tax rate. For Fort Bend ISD a tax rate that exceeds $1.1546 will trigger a VATRE. The current tax rate is $1.2101.
Fort Bend ISD has a $47 million deficit. A VATRE is one component in a two-part approach to eliminate the deficit. The other component is strategic budget tightening.
Voter approval of a tax rate of $1.2101 (the same rate as last year) will generate $47 million in additional revenue. The District is planning to use this additional revenue to:
- Address the deficit
- Provide funding for safety measures, including assigning police officers to every elementary school campus
- Allow increased compensation for teachers, raising starting pay to $60,000
- Allow for long-serving staff to receive years-of-service supplemental pay for their commitment and dedication to FBISD
For additional information visit
www.fortbendisd.com/vatre. Questions and comments can be submitted below.