Northside Independent School District is eyeing a pair of ballot questions for Nov. 3 that would ask San Antonio-area voters to sign off on a modest property tax hike and a trimmed-down bond package as the district works to close a roughly $38 million shortfall. Trustees were told the two-part plan could feature a 3-cent boost to the tax rate and about $400 million in bonds aimed at roof and systems work, campus reconstructions and security upgrades while enrollment keeps drifting downward. District leaders say those choices will shape the 2027 budget and decide which campuses rise to the top of the repairs list.
What’s Being Floated
District staff walked trustees through the idea in a finance committee meeting and later told the media they may pursue both a voter-approved tax-rate election and a fall bond, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News. Officials said they are weighing a 3-cent increase to the current $1.0049 rate and roughly $400 million in bond authority to tackle aging buildings and safety work. “The challenge with a bond...where do we draw that line?” Superintendent John Craft told trustees during the meeting, according to the reporting.
Tax Base And Enrollment Slide
Northside’s own tax-rate page lists the district’s 2026 adopted total tax rate at $1.0049 per $100 valuation and a certified taxable value of about $75.8 billion, according to Northside ISD. The district puts enrollment near 97,600 students on its site, down from a pre-pandemic peak of nearly 107,000, and officials say they are projecting fall 2026 enrollment just above 96,000. Because state funding in Texas follows attendance, even small shifts in enrollment can have a noticeable impact on the operating budget.
Voter Patience Has Limits
Northside voters signed off on a much larger $992 million bond in 2022, and the district still shows a portfolio of roughly $2.3 billion in needed projects, according to the local bond site Northside Bond Committee. Area voters, however, have recently shown a ceiling for new asks at the ballot box: four of five nearby districts that sought tax-rate increases last November came up short, forcing those systems to look at steep cuts, according to reporting by Community Impact. That recent track record is part of the political math Northside trustees have to work through before they decide how far to go.
Timeline And What Comes Next
Trustees are expected to take formal action this summer to adopt a 2027 budget and decide whether to place a tax vote and bond on the Nov. 3 ballot, and district leaders say they will ask the board to hire an efficiency auditor this spring while they await a compensation study and a facilities-optimization report, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Officials told the paper that without voter approval the district would have to trim its budget and weigh options that could include consolidating campuses or cutting programs. For taxpayers, the pitch is likely to be framed as a choice between higher bills now or living with deferred repairs and replacement work on aging campuses.
