No. The Texas Economic Development Act does allow school districts to abate a business’ property tax burden to enhance the local community, improve the public education system, create high-paying jobs and advance the economic development goals of the state. However, FISD has not entered into any such agreement.

Yes. Property taxes are ad valorem taxes levied on real or personal property. Therefore anyone owning property within the jurisdiction of a school district pays school district property taxes.

Indirectly, yes. Property taxes are ad valorem taxes levied on real or personal property. Therefore, the owner of the apartment complex is required to pay school property taxes based on the value of the complex as a whole. Generally, the cost of those taxes is one of the many factors used to determine the cost of rent for each tenant.

First, it’s important to understand that FISD only sets the school property tax rate. The District does not appraise property, so it has no control over how quickly property appreciates in value. The robust Texas economy is creating demand for new homes and driving up property values across the state. In fact, the state’s budget for this biennium assumes 14 percent growth in property values state-wide over the two-year period.

While property values are out of Frisco ISD’s control, the authority to set the property tax rate, within limits established by the state, rests with the School Board and voters. FISD continues to maintain a below-median tax rate compared to surrounding districts in Collin and Denton counties. The Frisco ISD community and its elected officials must balance its needs and expectations for public education with the desire to keep taxes as low as possible. The Looking Beyond Your Tax Bill presentation aims to educate the community about the way property taxes work to fund schools, and to inform taxpayers that the responsibility for funding Frisco ISD schools is gradually being shifted from the state to local homeowners.

The direct cost to educate a student in FISD is just approximately $7,650 per year. This number can be broken down in the following way:

• Direct Instruction - $5,300 – This includes classroom instruction and materials, instructional resources like libraries and media services, curriculum and instructional staff development.
  

• Instructional Support - $1,230 – This includes campus and instructional leadership, guidance counseling and evaluation services, social work services, health services and extracurricular activities.
  

• Operations - $920 – This includes student transportation, facilities maintenance, security and data processing.
  

• Leadership - $200 – This includes the general administrative expenses of the school district.

The video titled “A Dollar in FISD” describes in further detail how each dollar is spent on a student’s day.

Approximately 2.6 percent of FISD’s operating budget is spent on general administration. The General Administration category includes expenses of all the departments that allow the school district to operate, such as the Accounting, Finance, Purchasing, Payroll, Human Resources, Operations, Support Services, Government and Legal Affairs, and Communications Departments, as well as the FISD Print Shop, Internal Audit, the FISD leadership team, and clerical staff in the FISD Administration Building.