HOW DOES KATYISD HAVE SO MUCH BOND MONEY TO SPEND WITHOUT RAISING THE TAX RATE?

The answer to the question "Where does KISD get so much money to spend without raising the tax rate?" is easy to figure out.

To understand the deal, one must go to the Appraisal District web site where your home is located.

In my case it is www.HCAD.org   You must go to the appraisal district where your property is located.  It may be in Harris County, but KISD also is in Waller County and Fort Bend County.

Just for example, pull up www.HCAD.org, and go to "property search."  Do a private property search.  Put in any home address that is in that county.  When the screen comes up look at all the pages.  Click on the Five year amounts.  You will see that this property has been appraised in such a way that the home has increased in value by fifty per cent in five years!  My home went from $212 to $310 in five years.  They don't have to increase the tax rate because the Harris County Appraisal District just keeps increasing the value of your home to create more revenue for governments! If you cannot imagine how that works, get someone to help you with understanding.

It's a big lie to say that they "will not raise your taxes."  They don't have to--the Appraisal District does it for them.

The other lie is that when they tell those over 65 that they "need to vote for the bond because it will help their property value when it comes time to sell their home"-- That's a really big lie too.  How is your home going to be easier to sell when it's overpriced and has huge taxes due every year? And if you keep voting for the bonds, you are responsible for the results.

Actually, the truth is for those over 65 that when they keep raising the value of your home, even though your tax rate is frozen and your taxes may not go up while you are alive, the taxes are not ever going to go down for you either because they aren't stopping the wasteful spending and raising of the appraisals. If they didn't have so much debt, taxes could go down. They don't ever mention that part of it.

Katy ISD operates under the mantra that "if we build it, the people will come here."  I'm not so sure that is true any more when Hurricane Harvey has besmirched the Katy area.  People looking to buy a home aren't going to find Katy such a great place to live when a large portion of the district had a horrible flood just last month. I hope all of you made the effort to drive around and see the devastation. Look for a huge increase in the cost of flood insurance as well.  It won't be cheap anymore. The District has called for a reappraisal of our District.  What probably won't happen because the impact is not here yet, is that the homes that were NOT flooded will remain the same, but I think my home, which was not flooded, should also be devalued.  Not that I want that, but that is what will happen if they are honest about our situation. That being the case, how will the district keep raising tax dollars if the taxable property is going down in value?

If one's home were flooded, that fact has to be revealed to potential buyers.

The only people who want more people to come to Katy are Katy ISD administrators who like making way more money than they ever planned to get with that worthless education degree, large land owners who formerly were sitting on worthless farm land, developers, builders, realtors, investors, and business owners who need more customers.  Those of us who live here are tired of the crowds, the noise, the all night lights that don't ever let us see the stars, the traffic, the lines, and all the other inconveniences associated with living in what has become a metropolitan area. We never said we wanted to be Pittsburgh! The president of the Katy Economic Development Council is the one who started that silly business. Most of us moved out here to get away from Houston and Houston ISD!

Prospective home buyers will also be wary of a school district that builds schools over many years where there is potential for massive flooding.  Lots of questions need to be asked before the voters offer to vote for yet another bond issue. KISD builds schools based upon the potential for growth.  If people stop moving here, who gets stuck with the bill for all the schools that they have built?

We do.