The small number under the chart of 3.83 percent increase is the actual increase with the E3 project expense removed.

By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
As the last day of the fiscal school year ticked away on Aug. 31, the Bowie Independent School District Trustees approved a tax rate of $1.22 and budgeted expenditures 3.83 percent higher than the prior year.
The district retains the $1.04 maintenance and operation rate which is the maximum allowed without a tax ratification election and .18 cents in debt service.
While this is the same rate as 2017, due to the increase in values, your tax bill will increase on average by less than $5. The average market value of a residence this year is $115,246 with the average taxable value at $79,571. At the $1.22 rate the taxes for that property will run $970.77, an increase of $4.47.

Total expenditures in the 2018-19 budget are set at $16,951,631.
Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Pastusek explained while this makes the budget increase 15.27 percent above the prior year, that is misleading because the budget includes the remaining $1.6 million worth of work in the energy retrofit project that is being funded with tax maintenance notes. The total for the project was $2.8 million, but a portion of the work was completed in 2017-18.
Pastusek said removing those expenses creates expenses which are 3.83 percent above the prior budget.

Read the full story in the mid-week News.