What is a VATRE?

A Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE), if approved by RISD voters, would allow the district to receive an estimated $1.8 million---annually---in additional funding. This additional funding would be used for staff salaries, maintaining innovative technology initiatives, and immediate needed campus facility repairs and improvements.

Why did Rains ISD call a VATRE?

With voter approval, Rains ISD will be granted $800,000 in additional state revenue and $1,000,000 in local revenue. This results in a total of $1.8 million per year ($800,000 of that coming from Austin). Without these funds, Rains ISD's ability to support competitive salaries and increased technology needs will be substantially impacted.

  • Rains ISD's starting teaching salary is $5,000 below Sulphur Springs ISD and $7,600 below Greenville ISD.

  • In the state of Texas, Rains ISD is in the bottom quarter of all school districts for per student funding.

  • Prior to this year, the state match has been too small. In 2021-2022, the state will now provide significant additional dollars to the district.

How will the VATRE impact the overall RISD tax rate?

The total RISD tax rate includes the operating (M&O) rate and the bond (I&S) rate. School tax rate is a combination of the operating rate (M&O) and the bond rate (I&S).

If the VATRE is approved by the voters, the overall RISD tax rate will increase by 7.72 cents.

  1. The M&O rate will be $.992, which is 9.72 cents higher than the 2020-21 rate of .8948 cents.

  2. The I&S rate has been lowered to $0.12 by the Board of Trustees, which is 2 cents lower than 2020-21.

  3. The total tax rate would be $1.112. This is $0.0772 more than last year.

How will this impact my property taxes?

When property increases in value, your tax bill goes up.

Here's an example for an average house in Rains County assuming homestead exemption of $35,000:

House in 2020 was worth $123,836.00 x $1.0348 tax rate = $991.12 tax bill

House in 2021 now worth $143,612.00 x $1.112 tax rate = $1,202.00 tax bill

Increase of $210.91 on the same house for the year due to increased property value. Therefore, with approximately 1700 students in Rains ISD, the average homeowner will pay 12.4 cents per year per child in Rains ISD. For that additional 12.4 cents, Rains ISD will receive an additional $1.8 million dollars in funding.

Previously, the state has kept the majority of the increase in property values that generated additional funding. Under HB3 (House Bill 3) with voter approval in 2021, we can keep the local tax money generated for all children in Rains County.

The change in law and voter approval of TRE will result in an additional $1.8 million dollars staying in Rains County.

  1. What will the funds from the VATRE be used for?

Funds from the VATRE will be used for:

  • Raising teacher and staff pay to compete with area schools to hire and retain quality staff.

  • Maintain the new one-to-one technology initiative for Rains students.

  • Needed campus facility repairs and improvements.


  1. Why has my tax bill increased but additional revenue is being requested by the district?

The district has not raised property tax rates in almost 20 years. The increase on the bill has come from the increase in property values. Historically, the additional funds from property value growth were kept at the state level. With the VATRE, the amount of additional funding would then be available to RISD.


  1. Where does the 10.87 percent revenue increase come from?

6.04% of the increased revenue comes from the tax rate increase. 4.83% of the increased revenue comes from the sales tax already sent to Austin by the residents of Rains County. The 10.87 percent is equal to the additional $1.8 million dollars in funding that will be used for staff pay increases. technology support, and campus facility repairs.


  1. Why does the school district not use the County Permanent Fund to fund district needs?

The district does use the annual income which is generated from interest and allocated to the district by the Commissioners Court every year. When the state created the County Permanent Fund in 1845, they restricted the use of the corpus (land and oil revenue) to major facility improvements. In the last twenty years, the district has benefited from this fund by more than $10 million dollars to help reduce the cost of various construction projects in the district. The Texas Constitution charges the Commissioners Court with ensuring these funds are spent in a prudent manner in line with the constitutional restrictions.