RISD keeps $1.36 tax rate

As promised, the Rockdale ISD has kept the current $1.36 tax rate for 2018-19.

Meeting in regular session Monday in the Central Administration Building, trustees also heard a report on the opening of school and decided to negotiate for property near Tiger Field.

TAX RATE—The board approved the tax rate reflecting $1.17 for maintenance and operation, plus 19 cents for debt service.

There’s no change in the $1.36 rate even though the district is building a $5-million new stadium and the district lost $240 million in taxable value during the past year.

From the moment the new field project was announced this spring the district had pledged to construct the stadium without a tax increase or a bond election.

Supt. Dr. Denise Monzingo said because the stadium is being constructed on the same footprint as the old Tiger Field, it qualifies as maintenance and can be funded using maintenance tax notes, which don’t come out of the interest and sinking (INS) part of the RISD budget.

Construction is being funded from fund balance and will be paid back over a period of years.

Net taxable values in the Rockdale ISD dropped from $680,651,989 to $439,862,157, during the past year, a 35.38-percent decline.

That’s a result of Luminant shutting down its Sandow Power Plant in January.

Better times are on the way, however, with Bitmain’s plans to convert the former Alcoa smelter into a block-chain mining operation currently targeting bitcoins.

ENROLLMENT—Pam Kaufmann, assistant superintendent, reported a first-day enrollment of 1,464 Monday in the Rockdale ISD.

That’s down 43 from the 1,507 who answered the first bell of the 2017-18 school year.

Biggest decline was at the elementary which went from 391 to 364. RHS dropped from 447 to 424, the intermediate was down from 330 to 327 and the junior-high increased from 339 to 349.

PROPERTY—After an executive session, trustees authorized Dr. Monzingo to “discuss and negotiate price and associated expenses” of two lots on Miller Street.

Also following the executive session, trustees hired 15 persons for the 2018-19 school term and accepted the resignations of eight employees.