CAMERON—It’s not a surprise, but the only Milam County entity to see its taxable values drop in the annual certified values report from the Milam Appraisal District (AD) is the Rockdale ISD.
LUMINANT—That was expected as 2019 is the first year in which Luminant drops off the tax rolls for the two entities which had collected taxes from the Sandow power generating complex, the Rockdale ISD and Milam County.
Luminant shut down Jan. 4, 2018.
The 2019 post-freeze (exemptions) figure for the Rockdale ISD is $421,204,878. That’s down $9,604,225 from the 2018 figure, $430,809,103.
As recently as 2015, Rockdale ISD’s certified values were put at $851,198,375.
STATE HELP—However, there has been good news for the district this summer as recent state legislation has provided more state funding for school districts and Rockdale ISD plans to use about half its $4-million increase to get “caught up” as it enters the “Luminant-less” era, according to Supt. Dr. Denise Monzingo.
Much of the other half is g0ing to teacher salary increases.
And the district plans to do it all without a tax increase. A tax rate drop from $1.36 to $1.3184 is forecast.
COUNTY, CITY—Milam County has also lost Luminant but recent positive economic activity, including an increase in oil drilling in the county’s southeast quadrant and the Valero pipeline traversing Milam, helped enable the county to post an increase.
County taxable values increase 9.47 percent, from $1,282,794,481 to $1,404, 292,699.
City of Rockdale posted a small gain, 1.91-percent, going from $222,665,640 to $226,913,285.
Largest increase, reflecting oil activity in the area, was in the Gause ISD, which went from $801,436,164 to $126,534,471, up 57.31 percent.
Chief Appraiser Dyann White said 324 tax protests were not heard by the July 20 cutoff date and hearings will reconvene next month.
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