Florence ISD Voters Reject Tax-Rate Hike and Refunding Bond
Unofficial Williamson County results show Florence ISD Proposition A failing 1,257 to 763 and Proposition B failing 1,339 to 701.
Florence ISD voters rejected both money measures on the Nov. 3 ballot. Unofficial Williamson County returns show Proposition A and Proposition B failing in every Florence ISD precinct the county reported.
On the Williamson County Clarity site, last updated at 12:54:47 a.m. CST on Nov. 4 with 3 of 3 Florence ISD precincts reporting in that county, Proposition A failed 1,257 to 763. Proposition B failed 1,339 to 701. By our math, that is 37.77% for Prop A and 34.36% for Prop B, with margins of 494 and 638 votes. The results remain unofficial until the canvass.
FOX 7 Austin reported districtwide unofficial totals that also show both measures failing: Proposition A at 884 for and 1,616 against, and Proposition B at 781 for and 1,588 against. Those wider numbers include ballots outside Williamson County. We are leading with the county Clarity file that shows an as-of time and a full precinct count for the Williamson portion.
What was on the ballot
According to FOX 7, Florence ISD called a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, that would have raised almost $300,000 in tax revenue, plus a bond election to refund a 2015 maintenance tax note from the Interest and Sinking budget instead of the Maintenance and Operations budget. Both failed.
The Williamson County Sun reported before Election Day that the district did not adopt a balanced budget for 2026-27, falling $170,000 short, and that the propositions were meant to increase maintenance-and-operations tax revenue to support teacher raises.
The district's own VATRE and refunding bond page pointed residents to updated materials ahead of the vote. Florence ISD lists its offices at 306 College Ave., Florence, Texas 76527, phone (254) 793-2850.
The Early Church in Florence, a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, August 2018. Photo: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Where that leaves the district
A failed VATRE means the higher maintenance-and-operations rate the board sought does not take effect under the election order. A failed refunding bond leaves the 2015 maintenance tax note on its current track. District leaders will have to balance the books with the revenue they already have.
Florence was not alone. FOX 7's Central Texas roundup found that every VATRE it tracked on this ballot failed, while only Manor ISD passed its bond package among the districts listed.
Parents and staff who backed the measures argued the district needed the extra operating room for pay and day-to-day costs. Opponents effectively answered that the tax rate and the refunding package were not the right fix on this ballot. Either way, the unofficial count is clear in Williamson County and in the districtwide totals FOX 7 published.
Florence is a small district northwest of Georgetown. When a VATRE fails in a place this size, every dollar of the shortfall is felt closer to the classroom. That is why the Sun's pre-election report on the unbalanced budget matters: the board already knew the gap was real before voters spoke.
Our view
School boards can ask for more money. Taxpayers can say no. Both happened here in public. The next job is stewardship: cut waste first, protect classrooms, and come back with a clearer plan if the books still do not close.
Hero photo: Florence City Hall, photographed in August 2018. Photo: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
