College Station Independent School District

The City of College Station is growing, and so is its school enrollment. In fact, CSISD has added 1,519 students the past two years alone. With this growth comes the need for more instructional space, technology, buses, and a host of other capital items which make a school district function at maximum efficiency.

In order to provide new buildings and infrastructure, school districts rely on selling municipal bonds. These bonds are purchased by investors. The district pays back the investor's original investment with interest. It is akin to a family borrowing money to purchase a house or a vehicle. This money is not used for operations and, by law, can only be used for capital projects.

CSISD is certainly not alone in experiencing rapid growth. There are several school districts in Texas which are high-growth districts and have recently built a second comprehensive high school, just like CSISD.

See the chart below to see how CSISD's I&S tax rate and total debt service obligations stack up against comparable districts.

There are two tax rates CSISD residents pay each year in property taxes which go toward supporting the school district.

The first tax rate is the maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate, which is currently set at $1.04 per $100 of valuation. CSISD, or any other school district for that matter, does not borrow money for daily operations, which include employee salaries, paying the electricity bill, purchasing supplies, and any other day-to-day operations costs.

The second tax rate is the interest and sinking (I&S) rate, which was reduced from $0.34 to $0.323 per $100 of valuation for this year. The reduction is due to an approximate eight percent increase in taxable values, as well as the district paying down its debt. The district sets the I&S tax rate each year to coincide with the amount of money necessary to make payments on its bonds. All debt service tax rate increases must be approved by voters and the maximum rate allowed by law is $0.50.

Big-ticket items, like school buildings and renovations, are financed for periods of 20 to 30 years, while items with a shorter shelf-life, like technology and vehicles, are financed for 5 to 10 years.

Additionally, school districts occasionally refinance bonds to get better terms and interest rates. These refinances save the taxpayers a considerable amount of money.

The chart below outlines all of CSISD's current bond obligations, including original bond sales as well as refinanced packages. The chart also shows when each bond package is scheduled to be paid off and includes those obligations that have already been paid in full.