Voters in Spring ISD overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to raise property taxes for more school funding Tuesday while a similar measure in Alief ISD narrowly won approval.

Facing potential budget shortfalls and rising costs due to inflation, the two Houston-area school districts held elections to raise the property tax rates. 

The defeat of the Spring ISD proposal was clear from the count of early and absentee voting Tuesday evening, but the fate of Alief’s bid remained in doubt until early Wednesday when complete but unofficial returns were posted online by the Harris County Clerk’s office.

Spring voters turned down the district’s ballot measure, known as a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election, which would have raised property taxes by 5 cents per $100 of taxable property value.

Voters in Alief, meanwhile, were virtually split on a similar measure to raise taxes by 6 cents per $100 of taxable property value.

Under the proposed new rates, the average homeowner in Alief and Spring would pay about $85 more in property taxes per year. Property taxes for residents age 65 and over are frozen and are not impacted by a tax rate increase.

Without additional funding, Spring faces a projected $12 million deficit even after cutting $13 million in spending from its 2024-2025 budget. The additional tax revenue would have helped close that deficit and give teachers a 2 percent raise, district officials said ahead of the election.

In a statement Wednesday morning, Spring administrators vowed to make “difficult and bold decisions” to maintain the quality of education amid financial constraints.

“We now call on the state to do its part by updating the basic allotment to reflect current economic realities,” the statement continued. “The basic allotment, which serves as the foundation of school funding in Texas, has not been adjusted since 2019, leaving school districts across the state to manage rising costs without the necessary support.”

Spring resident Kristin Myers, 42, voted against the increase, citing a lack of trust in the public school system. Myers, a stay-at-home mother who homeschools her child, said she first heard about the tax election from a neighbor earlier that morning.

“I think a lot of parents have lost faith in the school system, in particular after COVID,” Myers said.

Spring voter Roberto Howard said he would have supported a tax increase if he had more details on how the district planned to use the additional funds.

“I didn’t feel comfortable with it,” Howard said. “I have not seen or heard anything regarding what specifically they plan on doing with the money.”

Alief officials said the new tax rate would help the district avoid potential staff cuts and close a projected $6.2 million deficit in its $456 million operating budget. (The district’s 2024-25 budget passed earlier this summer does not project a deficit.)

The remaining revenue would allow the district to keep pace with rising costs due to inflation and raise teacher salaries as districts across the state struggle to hire and retain experienced instructors, Alief leaders said. District administrators have yet to share how much money will go towards teacher raises or how the raises will be distributed.

As she stood in line to vote at the Alief Community Center with her mother and grandmother, Denise Enamorado said she was unfamiliar with the ballot measure but would support anything that helps students and teachers.

“If any of that (money) is going to go into increasing teacher pay, I think it would motivate teachers to be more interested in their student’s lives,” said Enamorado, a former Alief student.

Alief and Spring are not the only districts looking for additional revenue streams. Although the state began the 2023 legislative session with a $33.7 billion surplus, proposals to increase public education funding died while tethered to Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial school voucher program.

The 2025 legislative session begins this January. Lawmakers are expected to continue the school voucher debate as additional public school funding hangs in the balance.

Staff writers Akhil Ganesh and Danya Pérez contributed to this report.

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