EL PASO, Texas — Two of the largest school districts in El Paso County will go without the extra tax money they asked for after voters rejected Proposition A in both the Socorro and Ysleta independent school districts on Tuesday.
Final returns showed just over 57% of Socorro ISD voters and about 56% of Ysleta ISD voters against the measures. A similar Proposition A in the smaller Tornillo ISD went down with 70% voting no.
Each measure was a voter-approval tax ratification election, needed because the school boards set rates above the ceiling state law allows without a public vote. The Socorro board adopted $1.05 per $100 of valuation in August, against a voter-approval rate of 93 cents, a jump of roughly 12 cents. Socorro had projected up to $49.2 million a year in new revenue for raises, smaller classes and heating and cooling upkeep, and estimated the cost at about $10 a month on a $250,000 home.
Ysleta took a different approach. Its plan would have raised the maintenance and operations rate from $0.7705 to $0.7954 while trimming the debt-service rate from 43 cents to 40 cents, leaving the overall rate slightly below last year. The district counted on the shift for about $5.5 million a year as part of a plan to avoid layoffs while running a $12 million deficit.
In Tornillo, the measure would have brought in more than $1.5 million a year, with new school buses to satisfy the state seat belt mandate among the planned uses.
Socorro voters also defeated a similar measure last year, by about 850 votes. Its budget for this year, approved in June, totals $462.1 million.
Section: More El Paso TX politics news
Filed under: El Paso TX Politics News
