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April 7, 2022                                                                                (512) 922-7141, kvoinis@kvoinis.com

TTARA releases 5th edition of Texas school finance primer

The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA) has released the fifth edition of the award-winning “An Introduction to School Finance in Texas.”  The publication is a primer on the Texas school finance system intended to educate the reader about the Texas school finance system currently in place, including the formulas used to determine a school district’s total cost to educate its students, the methodology used to compress school district M&O tax rates, and how the state and school district shares of the cost are determined.

This new edition incorporates changes made to the Texas school finance system by the 86th and 87th legislatures, including House Bill 3 (86th) and House Bill 1525 (87th).

“HB 3 truly was a remarkable bill,” said Sheryl Pace, TTARA senior analyst and author of the publication. “It provided billions of additional dollars to school districts while simultaneously slowing the annual increase in school district property taxes. And to top it off, it reduced the amount of taxes recaptured by the state due to rising property values in the years after its passage. Chairmen Dan Huberty and Larry Taylor and all of the other members of the 86th Legislature are to be commended for working so tirelessly on its passage. I hope this primer helps people understand all of the moving parts of this new and improved school finance system.”

This publication is a winner of the prestigious Governmental Research Association’s award for Most Effective Education.

The publication was last updated in 2018.

Note: Hard copies of the report are available by contacting the TTARA office at (512) 472-8838 or emailing Pace at space@ttara.org.

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The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA) is a non-profit, non-partisan membership-supported organization of businesses and individuals interested in state and local fiscal policies in Texas and the way those policies impact the state’s economy.

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