ROCKPORT, Texas (AP) – Texas' school finance system is putting additional strain on two coastal districts that lost millions of dollars after Hurricane Harvey and now owe the state millions more.
The district will likely have to pay $7 million of its local property tax revenue to the state by August. It accounts for about 20 percent of the district's budget.
The district is considered property rich under the state's school funding formula, so some of its property tax revenue is redistributed to districts that are considered property poor.
Aransas County owes $2 million more this year because the state's formula calculated the payment using pre-Harvey property values, which were 14 percent higher than now, with post-Harvey enrollment rates. The district currently has 500 fewer students than before the storm.
The nearby Port Aransas district lost the same amount of property tax revenue as Aransas County, and officials are facing a $14 million recapture payment. The payment accounts for 75 percent of the district's budget.
State lawmakers are looking to fix the state's school finance system this session. A bill filed last month would set aside $906 million from Texas' rainy day fund to help Harvey-affected school districts, with part of the money intended to eliminate the impact of districts' property tax revenue loss.