Cy-Fair ISD Adopts $1.0369 Tax Rate After VATRE Fails
The Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board on Nov. 9 approved a 2026 tax rate of $1.0369 per $100 of value, a 3-cent reduction and the district's lowest in 40 years, after voters did not approve the VATRE, the district said.
The Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Board of Trustees on Nov. 9 approved a 2026 property tax rate of $1.0369 for each $100 of taxable value, according to an official district news release dated Nov. 11. The official Nov. 9 BoardBook agenda set the regular meeting for 6 p.m. Notice of the meeting was posted Nov. 4 at 8:30 a.m. at the Mark Henry, Ed.D. Administration Building. The district's official administration-building page lists that facility at 11440 Matzke Road, Cypress, TX 77429.
The district said the adopted rate is 3 cents lower than the 2025 rate and is CFISD's lowest property tax rate in 40 years. The official release also said the 2026 rate is more than 40 cents below the rate in place 10 years earlier.
The official release said the rate was set after the November election, because the district's Voter Approval Tax Rate Election did not pass. The district said Texas tax law, in that situation, caps a school district at its voter-approval tax rate or lower. Community Impact reported on Nov. 10, citing unofficial voting totals, that on the Nov. 3 ballot, voters turned down every one of CFISD's five measures — a VATRE that would have raised the rate by 12 cents, and a $1.63 billion bond split across four propositions.
The official release lists the $1.0369 total as two parts: a Maintenance and Operations rate of $0.6669 per $100, which the district said pays for daily operations such as classroom instruction, pay for teachers and staff, student safety, and utilities; and an Interest and Sinking, or debt service, rate of $0.37 per $100, down from $0.40 in 2025. I&S collections, the district said, may be used only for principal and interest on bonds voters have already approved, not for operating costs or salaries.
CFISD also grants a local optional homestead exemption equal to 20 percent of a home's appraised value. Together with the current $140,000 state homestead exemption, the district said, a residence the district described as a $350,000 average home would be taxed on $140,000 of value, a reduction the district put at about $726.
Community Impact reported that Chief Financial Officer Karen Smith told the board the district has lost another $7.1 million in state funding because enrollment came in lower than expected, from lower birth rates, turnover in existing homes, and more competition among school options. The newspaper said the projected shortfall for fiscal year 2026-27 is now $88 million, after a prior projection of $80.9 million tied to the failed tax and bond propositions. Official minutes were not opened for this report, so this account does not describe the board's vote as unanimous.
Board president Julie Hinaman, as quoted by Community Impact, said the trustees "will spend much time at each board meeting working on budgetary priorities and understanding how we can, in effect, meet the requirements that we now have, which is to find a way to close an $88 million deficit, due to the fact that the VATRE did not pass." Superintendent Doug Killian, also quoted by the newspaper, said the Long-Range Planning Committee will study possible boundary changes as enrollment falls at different rates from campus to campus, and that staff will be told of limits on travel and overtime. He called the work "a multi-year fix," with some steps taken quickly and others a year out, and said the district will take that case to the Legislature, quoting him that inflationary costs "have just blown up since 2019." He said more finished plans are expected by February.
The official agenda listed the tax-rate item as a non-consent action: consideration of the 2026 Tax Rate Resolution to support the 2026-2027 Maintenance and Operations and Debt Service budgets. Adopting this rate is the board's 2026 tax levy decision. It is not a new bond election, and it does not by itself close the deficit the administration described to the newspaper. Any later cuts, boundary changes, or spending limits would be separate decisions. Community Impact reported trustees are next scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. on Dec. 14, again in the administration-building boardroom at 11440 Matzke Road.
Related reading: Harris County Adopts Official Canvass, Orders Agenda Update.
