Houston Voters Say No to "Robin Hood"
Amidst the crumbling debris of last week's election, there was one vote in Texas that nobody noticed, but which may have monumental consequences for school finance. Houston ISD voters delivered a message to the state: We won't send you our property tax dollars.
In a referendum called by school district trustees, HISD residents voted almost two-to-one to block the sending of recapture payments to the state under the "Robin Hood" school finance system. That's the process whereby the state takes payments from what are classified as "property rich" districts. However, contrary to popular misconception, the money does not go to poorer school districts, but rather into the state's general revenue fund.
Estimates for the hole this would blow in HISD's finances have shifted over time. When trustees first said they needed voter approval to send the payments, the deficit hovered around $100 million. At this point, it seems closer to $165 million.
Recapture is a budget killer. Austin ISD is expected to send $406 million (35% of all maintenance and operations taxes) to the state this year alone. It's a similar story in Galveston ISD (28%), and still nothing compared to Cotulla (a brain warping 79%). The Texas School Coalition has already released a statement saying, "We understand the frustration felt by Houston voters, as our districts have struggled with the same predicament and challenge of sending local property tax revenue to the state without the ability to maintain the resources necessary to serve local students."
Read more: http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2016-11-15/houston-voters-say-no-to-robin-hood/
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