Frisco school officials want voters to approve more than $1 billion in bonds for a new middle school building, renovations and technology upgrades as well as a tax increase to pay for teacher raises and cover other budget gaps.

The bond propositions — B, C and D — total would pay for improvements at 20 aging schools, bolster Frisco ISD’s technology infrastructure and build a $11.2 million tennis center. The bonds, if approved, would not result in a tax increase, according to the district.

School officials, however, say the tax-rate increase outlined in proposition A is needed to raise $11 million to cover budget shortfalls taken on to boost teacher salaries. Some residents are not convinced and say even a small tax hike, given rising property values, is too much.

“What we’re asking for is for our voters to allow us to go out for our maximum taxing capacity as a school district under state law, which equates to this approximate three-cent tax increase,” Frisco ISD Superintendent Mike Waldrip said.

If approved, the maintenance and operations portion of the tax rate would increase by $0.0294, bringing the overall rate to $1.0569 per $100 of property valuation.

When calculated with average property appraisals from the Collin Central Appraisal District, an analysis by The Dallas Morning News shows that annual increase for a homeowner would be about $155. The average homeowner in Denton County would pay about $145 more in property taxes.

In 2019, the Legislature compressed tax rates to lower the burden on taxpayers and revamped funding for public schools. Last year, the rate was compressed again through property tax reform efforts that included a proposition voters approved that raised the homestead exemption for school taxes from $40,000 to $100,000.

Waldrip said the district, meanwhile, has faced the pandemic and inflation. However, the basic per-student state funding allotment for public schools has stayed the same in five years.

Earlier this year, Frisco school trustees adopted a budget with a $30.8 million shortfall to fund 3% salary raises for teachers.

“We, like every other school district in the state, struggle to stay competitive with our peers in teacher pay,” Waldrip said. “Teacher pay is not what any of us would like to see it be at any particular point in time. We all feel like teachers are underpaid.”

The district was one of the fastest growing in the state over the past 25 years, increasing from fewer than 10,000 students in 2001 to more than 67,000 this year.

That growth rate, however, has plateaued.

“With the rules we have and the mechanisms and the system that we have in place, this is the only thing that’s available to us to be able to try to generate additional revenue,” Waldrip said.

Bond propositions

Proposition B is the largest of the five-year bond proposals and would result in a replacement campus for Staley Middle School.

The new $102.3 million campus would be just east of the current building, which officials plan to repurpose for special education programs.

Officials planned to renovate Staley through a 2018 bond but learned the school needed significant work that couldn’t be done while students were in classes. The district would use about $20 million from the last bond to renovate the current building if voters approve the latest proposition, Waldrip said.

In all, proposition B would provide the district $986 million, $569.1 million of which would be used to upgrade 20 schools that are 25 years in age.

The money also would cover districtwide upgrades, such as HVAC and plumbing improvements.

Proposition C would raise an additional $88.2 million for districtwide technology upgrades and expanded Wi-Fi capabilities at campuses.

The final bond proposal is for $11.2 million to fund a new tennis center. Some of the costs to manage the center could be offset by renting space out when not in use by students, school officials said.

None of the district’s high schools have a facility that can hold major tournaments.

“When we do a district tournament, we have to go to a neighboring school district and use their tennis facility to have our own Frisco district tournament,” Waldrip said.

Frisco ISD voters have approved all five of the district’s bond proposals spanning back to September 2000. All bond proposals passed with about 70% or more votes in favor.

Since the last bond election in 2018, it’s become harder to pass such measures. State law now requires districts to add language to such ballot measures noting “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE,” even if districts don’t need to bump up rates to pay for the bond issuance.

At a Aug. 19 meeting, some residents pushed back on the bond packages and tax rate proposal.

Frisco resident Sabrina Lomonte told trustees her family cut down on luxuries to deal with financial restraints stemming from what she described as “high inflation, high property and school taxes, and expensive homeowners insurance.”

She agreed that campuses need maintenance but questioned the district’s “inflated expenditures,” including raises for administrative staff.

“Me and my family, like many other families have had to do, we tightened our belts drastically — no eating out, no vacations, no extras — just to get by,” Lomonte said. “To propose this tax increase and bond seems extremely tone deaf to the needs and struggles of our community.”

Tim Muench, who has lived in Frisco for 25 years, said he doesn’t agree with the tax rate increase or the bond proposition for the new tennis center. District officials could be more responsible with their spending, he said.

“The residents have been like the golden goose,” Muench said.

He said “there’s no question” that Staley Middle School, where his daughter attended, should be rebuilt. He, however, hasn’t made up his mind on the $986 million bond proposal because of the costs associated with the individual projects.

“My biggest issue is, I don’t believe that the school district as a whole has been, shall we say, a good steward of our money,” Muench said.

Waldrip said district officials do their best to “tighten up” finances. The school’s fund balance is in good shape, he added.

“But we can’t sustain a $30 million deficit indefinitely,” Waldrip said. “As a matter of fact, we can’t sustain it for very long at all.”