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Financial Information

A photo of three homes in Pecan Square

What is an Operations Funding Election?

  • If a school district wants to increase its tax revenue for operations funding beyond the rate set by a state, it must call an operations funding election. State law requires the school districts seek voter approval to raise its tax rate above a prescribed amount. The election is also referred to as a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election, or VATRE.
  • Northwest ISD's election asks voters to consider a 3-cent increase to the district's maintenance and operations tax rate. In Texas, M&O budgets are used to fund daily operations, such as salaries, student programs and utilities.
  • These three cents are classified by the state as "golden pennies," meaning all funding generated from this increase would stay within Northwest ISD and would not be subject to recapture (or funding that is partially kept by the state in its general fund, also known as "Robin Hood"). The state recapture law redirects local school funding to schools in other areas of the state, thereby reducing the funding the state provides to districts on its own.
  • School boards are required to adopt the M&O rates provided by the state with the exception of any funds provided through "golden pennies" and/or approved by voters in an election.

If approved by voters, the operations funding election would result in a 3-cent increase in the tax rate compared to if the election is not approved by voters. Compared to 2024, however, the tax rate will decrease. Additionally, because the state's existing homestead exemption of $100,000 is expected to increase to $140,000 pending voter approval, a home would see its taxable value reduced by an additional $40,000. The tool below can assist residents with determining their annual tax impact compared to 2024 in the event of a successful operations funding election.

Northwest ISD has no control over appraised property values, which are assigned by the county appraisal district where a home resides. In Tarrant County, property values are frozen in 2025, meaning the values for this year will remain the same from 2024.

Tax Rate History

Northwest ISD's current maintenance and operations tax rate of $0.6669 per $100 of taxable property is the lowest M&O rate for a K-12 school district in the state. Additionally, the district's 2024-2025 total tax rate of $1.0879 per $100 of taxable property marked the district's lowest tax rate in more than 30 years and followed the previous year's 18-cent reduction in the tax rate.

Area M&O Tax Rates

If approved by voters, Northwest ISD's new M&O tax rate would be $0.6631 per $100 of taxable property, which would still rank near the lowest in the area. M&O tax rates of districts that border Northwest ISD as well as other large or fast-growing school districts in the area include:

A photo of the finance department receiving a recognition for their recent state and national awards

Financial Integrity & Transparency Accolades

For decades, the Northwest ISD Financial Services Department has earned several state and national recognitions, signifying the district’s commitment to financial best practices and transparency. Among the awards the district has earned include:

  • Association of School Business Officials: Meritorious Budget Award (23 years)
  • Government Finance Officers Association: Meritorious Budget Award
  • Texas Association of School Business Officials: Purchasing Award of Merit (10 consecutive years)
  • Texas Comptroller's Office: Transparency Star
  • Texas Education Association: Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas "A" Superior Award (23 consecutive years)