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Houston ISD, Texas, Attendance Credits, Proposition 1 (November 2016)
| Proposition 1: Houston ISD Attendance Credits |
|---|
|
| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Defeated
|
| Topic: |
| Local school budgets |
| Related articles |
| Local school budgets on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in Texas Harris County, Texas ballot measures Houston Independent School District, Texas, Authority to Purchase Attendance Credits from the State, Proposition 1 (May 2017) |
| See also |
| Houston Independent School District, Texas |
A measure authorizing the purchase of attendance credits was on the ballot for Houston Independent School District voters in Harris County, Texas, on November 8, 2016. It was defeated.
A formula is used by the state based on property value and student attendance to determine the district's equalized wealth level. Because of a rise in property values, the ratio of property value to average daily attendance in the Houston Independent School District was higher than the maximum set by state law, which meant the school district was required by law to either pay money to the state in order to help fund districts with a lower ratio or relinquish commercial property value and the local tax revenue it generates.[1]
Authorizing the purchase of attendance credits would have allowed the district to avoid a process known as recapture. Under recapture, the Texas Commissioner of Education is granted the power to take commercial property away from the school district and assign it to another district. The new district is then allowed to collect taxes on that property.[2]
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of allowing the school district to pay $162 million to purchase attendance credits in order to avoid recapture. |
| A no vote was a vote against allowing the school district to pay $162 million to purchase attendance credits. The Texas Education Authority must instead get that money through commercial property detachment. |
Aftermath
- See also: Proposition 1 on May 6, 2017
After a reduction in the amount that needed to be spent on attendance credits, the Houston ISD board voted to put another proposition before voters on May 6, 2017, asking for authority to purchase attendance credits and avoid needing to relinquish commercial property and the local property tax revenue that comes with it. This May 2017 measure—also Proposition 1—was approved.[3]
Election results
| Proposition 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| No | 209,309 | 62.64% | ||
| Yes | 124,830 | 37.36% | ||
- Election results from Harris County Clerk
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[4]
| “ | Authorizing the board of trustees of Houston Independent School District to purchase attendance credits from the state with local tax revenues[5] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the board members of the Houston Independent School District.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Houston Independent School District Local school budgets. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Houston ISD, "Early voting begins on HISD Proposition 1 recapture payment," October 24, 2016
- ↑ Houston Public Media, "What Proposition One Means for HISD," October 26, 2016
- ↑ Harris County Elections Office, "SAMPLE BALLOT; Joint Election; Harris County, Texas; May 06, 2017," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ Harris County, Texas, "Sample Ballot," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
