Boerne ISD trustees have adopted a property tax rate of $1.0065 for the coming year, shaving $0.0044 off last year's rate and extending a decade-long effort to lower its tax rate. The district, which serves more than 11,180 students across Kendall, Comal and Bexar counties, is pairing the lower rate with a new public effort to explain exactly how Texas school finance works.
The rate reduction is the latest step in what WOAI describes as a decade-long push by Boerne ISD to bring its tax rate down. The district has also cut more than $1.5 million from central-office expenditures, and an efficiency audit found its administrative team makes up 4.2% of total staff, a share the district says runs 0.02% lower than peer districts, according to the station's report.
A Track Record District Leaders Point To
Boerne ISD has earned seven straight A ratings from the Texas Education Agency, and the district reports a 99% graduation rate alongside a 98% college, career and military readiness rate, per the same account. The district has also pushed for increased state funding for public education even as it works to hold down its own local rate.
Boerne ISD Chief Financial Officer Wesley Scott, who is launching the new information series, said the district's goal is to operate responsibly and efficiently within the tax rate and state funding formula. Dr. Kristin Craft is the district's superintendent. Scott said Boerne taxpayers appreciate the efforts to lower the tax rate, the station's report notes.
New Dollars and Sense Series Launches Sept. 29
To make that funding picture more transparent, Boerne ISD Chief Financial Officer Wesley Scott is launching a monthly, public information series called Dollars and Sense, aimed at explaining how school funding works in Texas and how taxpayer dollars are used. The first session is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the district's central office, and it is open to the public.
How Boerne Compares to Neighboring Comal ISD
Boerne ISD's move comes as neighboring districts navigate their own tax and funding pressures. Community Impact reports that the Comal ISD board of trustees approved a tax rate of $1.07 per $100 of valuation for fiscal year 2026-27, made up of a $0.724 maintenance-and-operations rate and a $0.35 interest-and-sinking rate. Comal ISD trustee Tim Hennessee said of the district's spending, “we spend extremely effectively.”
Community Impact also reports that Comal ISD taxpayers will not see an increase in that approved rate even if voters approve the district's proposed 2026 bond in November. A Texas school district's tax rate is made up of those same two components, maintenance and operations taxes and debt-service, or interest-and-sinking, taxes, according to Comal ISD. The district notes its tax base has more than doubled over the past decade and that its tax rates have trended downward.
Other Districts Are Asking Voters for More, Not Less
Not every district in the region is moving in the same direction. According to San Antonio Report, at least five San Antonio-area school districts plan to ask voters for additional funding through tax elections this November, with leaders citing budget deficits driven by rising costs and limits on how Texas public schools can collect and use money.
San Antonio ISD is proposing a 3.17-cent increase to its maintenance-and-operations rate, estimated to generate $5.5 million in extra funds, while Northside ISD is proposing a 3-cent increase that would unlock an additional $21.5 million, per the outlet. Against that backdrop, Boerne ISD's continued rate cuts and its new Dollars and Sense series give local taxpayers a rare chance to see how one district in the region is choosing to go the other way.
