Karnes City ISD Puts $5 Million for Teacher Housing on Tuesday's Ballot
Alongside a $123 million bond for a new junior high and buses, Karnes City ISD asks voters to borrow $5 million to build teacher housing on land the district already owns.
This is a preview. Karnes City ISD voters decide these questions on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and no results are in yet.
Most school bond packages are about classrooms, roofs and buses. Karnes City ISD's has those, too. But the district has also put a smaller, unusual question on Tuesday's ballot: whether to borrow $5 million to build housing for its teachers.
The two propositions total $128 million. Both carry the words "THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE" on the ballot, according to the district's notice of bond election.
Proposition B: teacher housing
Proposition B asks for $5 million for "teacher housing." The district's bond website says the homes would be built on land the district already owns, "to address a shortage of teacher housing" and to support recruiting and keeping "highly qualified teachers."
The housing had to be listed as its own proposition. In the election order, adopted Aug. 10, 2026, trustees found that staff housing is one of the types of facilities that Texas law requires to go on the ballot separately. The board also declared that the housing "is necessary to have a sufficient number of teachers for the district."
The district's voter information document estimates $4,873,389 in interest on the $5 million, assuming a 5% rate over 30 years, for a total of $9,873,389. By our math, that is about 97 cents in interest for every dollar borrowed. The district's bond website does not say how many homes or apartments $5 million would build, or what teachers would pay to live in them.
Proposition A: a new junior high and buses
Proposition A is the larger request, at $123 million. The district says it would pay for a new junior high campus and gym next to the current one, an auxiliary building for health science and physical education, new buses to meet state seat belt requirements, and districtwide safety upgrades such as cameras, fencing and access control. It would also fund roofing and HVAC work, an expanded junior high and high school cafeteria, and a renovated administration building that would bring the district's offices under one roof.
The voter information document estimates $124,900,417 in interest on Proposition A over 30 years, for a total of $247,900,417. By our math, if both propositions pass and the bonds are sold on those terms, principal and interest together would come to about $257.8 million.
For comparison, the district's outstanding debt when the election was called was $13,290,000 in principal and $2,191,950 in interest, according to the order. Its debt service tax rate was $0.1268 per $100 of value.
Downtown Karnes City. Photo: Billy Hathorn / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
What it would cost homeowners
The two cost estimates published by the district are hard to square. The official voter information documents put the maximum yearly increase on a $100,000 homestead at $0 for each proposition, because the state's $140,000 school homestead exemption covers that value. The documents also assume appraised values will not change.
The district's tax information page says the total tax rate would rise an estimated 6.8 cents per $100 if the bonds pass, and that the impact on a $150,000 home would be about $8.64 a year. By our math, after the $140,000 exemption, a $150,000 homestead has $10,000 of taxable value, and 6.8 cents per $100 on that comes to $6.80, not $8.64. The page does not show how the district reached its figure. Either way, the bill on homesteads is modest. Property without a homestead exemption, such as businesses and land, would pay the higher rate on its full taxable value.
The district says homeowners 65 and older with an over-65 exemption on file would see no increase, and that its total tax rate would still be 12 cents lower than in 2022.
A bond planning committee of more than 30 residents met five times from February to May and brought its recommendation to trustees on June 8, the district says.
Where to vote
Early voting has ended. On Election Day, polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Karnes County uses countywide polling places, and Karnes City's site is St. Cornelius Catholic Church's CCD Building, 605 E. Calvert, according to the district's voting page. Voters in the Atascosa County part of the district can vote at Campbellton Hall, 305 St. Francis Ave., or other Atascosa County sites.
Our view
A school that cannot find a place for teachers to live will have trouble keeping good ones, and small towns across Texas know that problem well. Keeping the housing as its own question, as state law requires, lets voters judge it on its own merits.
Still, a landlord role is new territory for a school district. Before voters agree to nearly $10 million in payments, they deserve to know how many units would be built, what rent teachers would pay, and who would maintain them. Like voters in Crosby and Keller, Karnes City families should weigh the full cost with interest, not just the yearly tax.
