TEMPLE, Texas (FOX 44) – The Temple Independent School District’s Board of Trustees has voted to lower its tax rate for the sixth consecutive year.

The district says that Trustees voted to drop the tax rate by 7.14 cents during its Monday night meeting. The tax rate remains at the lowest level for the district since the 2010 tax year.

The Board set the new tax rate at $1.1489 for the upcoming year, with $0.7939 designated for the purpose of maintenance and operations and $0.3550 designated for the purpose of payment of debt service. Temple ISD has now lowered its tax rate by a total of 25.14 cents over the past six years.

The district was able to lower the rate primarily due to three factors – selling only a portion of the 2022 bonds, an increase in property values within the district and legislative tax compression.

During the meeting, Ott thanked the district’s Office of Finance staff for their fiscal responsibility. He also pointed out the importance of once again lowering the tax rate after voters approved a $164.8 million bond package in May 2022.