MIDLAND, Texas — We all know the tale.... He takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Sounds noble enough in folklore, perhaps even in theory. But, when that modern day "Robin Hood" is taking the lion's share of your local school district's operating budget, things stop being fairy tale fun and quickly become more of fiscal nightmare.
This is exactly the scenario that is being setup for the Midland Independent School District's 2019-2020 fiscal year. Being labeled a Chapter 49 district, MISD is classified as a district that exceeds the property wealth per student value that is defined by current state law. As such, MISD is required to share their prosperity by contributing their overage of wealth or "riches" through the "Robin Hood" tax plan. Who are the "poor" that receive these riches? Those are the Chapter 48 school districts scattered throughout Texas, those who's per student property values fall below that state figure.
To add a little perspective to this modern-day tale, a brief on the history before this current chapter could offer some comparative value. According to the figures provided by MISD Chief Financial Officer, Darla Moss, they made their first recapture payment into the "Robin Hood" fund back during their 2013-2014 fiscal year. That payment was for a figure just shy of $15 million. The recapture payment looking into the next fiscal year will be more than 7 times over that figure, a jump of over $103 million. Moss says that MISD will now see a recapture payment of $118.4 million to the Texas Education Agency for 2019-2020.
A "riches" payment to the "poor' of $118.4 million.
The legislative budget board had previously estimated that with the passing of HB 3 they would see a decrease in their recapture payment and had forecasted it to be closer to $42 million. That figure was woefully off. Again, in comparison, the new figure of $118 million is almost half of all of the total recapture payments made by MISD in the last 5 years. For even more perspective, the latest figure of $118 million dollars represents a third of MISD's over-all budget and is the second largest expenditure in their budget, falling behind only to the actual cost of instruction to the district.
So why the phenomenal increase? According to MISD CFO, Moss, it is the result of a 35% increase in the district's overall property values. Moss pointed out a key area of concern were the district's mineral assets, which she says saw an unprecedented 85% increase in valuation.
Despite taking the $118 million hit, things aren't completely destitute for MISD. After all, "Robin Hood" wouldn't come calling if there weren't an abundance of riches to be distributed. Even after paying in their Robin Hood recapture fee, the district will retain almost $271 million for their 2019-2020 budget. When comparing that figure to the previous 2018-2019 fiscal year, it will still leave MISD with about $76 million more than what it saw just last year.
Still, a lover of fairy tales and folklore could be left to wonder... Just what all could be accomplished in our own village school houses if Robin Hood allowed that $118 million to stay at home with the property owners who actually generated all of those "riches".
