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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How many buses would be purchased under Prop A? 
A. New buses cost approximately $160k each and will be financed over a period of 10 years or less. We would purchase what the budget would allow up to 12 buses.

Q. What is the estimate received to fix the water treatment facility?
A. TISD is currently working with KPA Engineers to address our current sewer plant needs.  This project will take a minimum of 17 more months (July 2026) or up to a maximum of 36 months (February 2028) to complete. The project is estimated to cost 3.2 million; however, the exact cost will not be determined until this project goes out for a bid.  KPA's proposal was received on March 11, 2024.

Q. What is the estimated purchase price for land?
A. The purchase price for land is confidential under applicable law to protect the District’s bargaining position.  Once a purchase agreement for land is finalized and executed, the final details of any land purchase will become public.   

Q. How many acres are you going to purchase?
A. Initially the District was desiring to purchase 50 acres, but the District is open to considering property purchases of varying sizes within the District’s budget.  

Q Is the land in question owned by Board member Johnson or family?
A. The District has reviewed various properties for potential purchase, including corresponding with 10+ landowners concerning a potential purchase.  One piece of property the District evaluated is owned by a board member’s family.    

Q. Do you think this is a conflict of interest?
A. Applicable laws and TISD policies governing conflicts of interest, including conflicts relating to substantial interest in real property, have and will continue to be followed.

Q. How many students are currently attending each facility in TISD?
A.  Enrollment Data.  (As of 1/16/25)

  • Tarkington Early Childhood School 209
  •  Tarkington Elementary School  745
  •  Tarkington Middle School 409
  •  Tarkington High School 540

Q. What is the current capacity of each facility in  TISD? 
A. Per the demographers report Fall 22-23, capacity at each campus is as follows: 

  • Tarkington Early Childhood School (Pre-K, Kindergarten) 450
  • Tarkington Elementary School (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade)   550
  • Tarkington Middle School (6th, 7th, & 8th grade)  350
  • Tarkington High School (9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th grade)  550

Q. How many students are/were enrolled at TISD for 2024-2025?  2023-2024?  2022-2023? 
A. Enrollment

  • 2024-2025: 1903 (as of 1/16/25)
  • 2023-2024: 1893
  • 2022-2023: 1880

Q. What is the projected growth rate for TISD?
A. Enrollment is projected to be 2,444 by the school year 2030,  28.9% growth over current enrollment.

Q. What is the estimated purchase price for land?
A. The purchase price for land is confidential under applicable law to protect the District’s bargaining position.  Once a purchase agreement for land is finalized and executed, the final details of any land purchase will become public.   

Q. How many acres are you going to purchase?
A.  Initially the District was desiring to purchase 50 acres, but the District is open to considering property purchases of varying sizes within the District’s budget.  

Q.  Is the land in question owned by a board member or family?
A.  The District has reviewed various properties for potential purchase, including corresponding with 10+ landowners concerning a potential purchase.  One piece of property the District evaluated is owned by a board member’s family.    

Q.  Do you think this is a conflict of interest?
A.  Applicable laws and TISD policies governing conflicts of interest, including conflicts relating to substantial interest in real property, have and will continue to be followed.

Q. What is a Bond? 
A. Watch This Video

Q. On your Agricultural Land Information page your example says that for 50 acres valued at $140/acre, there would be an increase of $7.16 a year. Is that $7.16 per single acre or per 50 acres?
A. That is for the full 50 acres. The tax bill calculation at the current rate is 50 * $140 / 100 * $0.9302 = $65.11. The tax bill calculation at the proposed rate would be 50 * $140 / 100 * $1.0325 = $72.28.

Q. Is there a contract on the land for the new elementary school? How much land is being purchased? What is the estimated price to be paid? What is the current taxed value it would remove from the district?
A. At its meeting on April 15, 2024, the Tarkington ISD Board of Trustees approved the purchase of approximately 50 acres of real property located in Liberty County, Texas for a future campus or other district facilities, and delegated authority to the Superintendent or her designee to negotiate, finalize, and execute all documents related to the purchase.  At this time, the purchase and sale agreement for the property is still under negotiations.  Once the purchase and sale agreement is finalized and executed, it will become a public record.  The property holds one or more tax exemptions; consequently, the District has received less than $100 each year in taxes for the property under consideration for potential purchase.

Q. How many years will we be required to pay the additional tax money on the bond until it is expected to be paid off?
A. The bond is projected as a 30-year bond. An increase in property values in subsequent years could provide the District with prepayment opportunities, and/or a reduction in interest rates could provide potential refunding (refinancing) opportunities; both of which could generate interest savings and shorten the terms of the debt.

Q. When can a school district have a bond election?
A. In accordance with Texas law, school districts are restricted to scheduling bond elections on the uniform election dates in May and November of each year, with the deadline for the Board of Trustees to adopt an order no later than the 78th day before Election Day. On August 19, 2024, Tarkington ISD’s Board voted to hold a $80 million bond election. 

Q. What happens to excess bonds (dollars) that the district does not have to issue to complete bond projects identified and presented to the community?
A. The Bond Election would permit the District’s Board of Trustees to authorize issuing $80 million in bonds. The Board is permitted, but is not required, to issue all of those bonds. The Bond Election does not automatically mean that the District has incurred debt, so in the event that less than all of the bonds are issued, the District would only be obligated to repay the bonds that are actually issued.

Once bonds are issued and the bond funds are on hand, the Board may only use those bond funds 1) for purposes listed on the ballot and approved by the voters or 2) to repay the bonds.

Q. Has Tarkington purchased land yet?
A. No; land has not yet been purchased.  The District has inquired with several Tarkington landowners who have large plots of land in locations of interest for future development within the Tarkington ISD attendance zone.  The District is further discussing and negotiating a potential land purchase. The District will ultimately pursue the option that the District’s Board of Trustees determines bests meets the needs of the District.  If a purchase agreement is successfully negotiated, the Board of Trustees will consider approval of the purchase at a publicly posted open meeting.

Q. Will a third party security evaluation be done for the security upgrades? Will their highest concerns be a priority of the upgrades?
A. A third party security evaluation has already been required and completed by ESC Reg. 4, which is how we arrived at our security priorities. The upgrades are a result of Region 4's evaluation. 

Q. How many contractor's bids will be considered?
A. The District will go through a competitive process to obtain bids/proposals in accordance with Texas law after the proposed bonds are issued. The District will consider all qualified bids/proposals that are submitted to it and welcomes all interested parties to participate in that procurement process. The District will provide more information on that process once it has bond funds available for the proposed projects.

Q. Where can I find details on the Bond proposal? I read the (press release) and the second document but there aren't any details, just vague references and that people over 65 need not worry. BUT what about HOW $80 million will be spent. I'm for the bond but still would like details.
A. Details on the Proposed Bond Projects are on the district website at tarkingtonisd.net/Bond-2024 > Proposed Bond Projects.

Q. Where can we find an itemized cost/spend per project?
A. 1. Details on the Proposed Bond Projects are on the district website at tarkingtonisd.net/Bond-2024 > Proposed Bond Projects.

Q. How did the district arrive at the bond amount?
A. 110-member Future Forward Committee met over the course of six months to review and discuss potential bond projects. The Committee consisted of parents, community members, district staff, senior citizens, and business/community leaders. Together, this group presented proposals to TISD Trustees. After careful review and deliberation, Trustees voted to approve a bond proposal in the amount of $80 million. The amounts are estimates only at this time and more specific/itemized estimates are not available. Full plans and specifications would be needed to confidently provide itemized amounts for each project.  It is not common for districts to have consultants prepare full plans and specifications prior to having a successful bond election, because districts typically cannot afford these costs unless and until they have bond funds available for payment. Even when they can afford these items, they don’t want to expend those funds unless they know that the bonds are approved and they can be put to use. Districts also have to comply with competitive procurement requirements that essentially prohibit obtaining bids before they’ve issued bonds, so school districts can rarely, if ever, provide exact amounts at this phase of the process..

Q. I heard a rumor that part of the project was to build a new administration building.   I did not see this on the list and wanted to know if this was included or not?  
A. Building a new administration building is not one of the proposed bond projects.

Q. If the bond from 2 decades ago is still in place, but projected to be paid off 6 years early (within the following 3 years), what is that projected cost savings to the taxpayers overall?
A. The District saved a total of about $2,800,000 with three refundings (refinancings) over the life of the bond. The 2024 Defeasance and projected 2025 Defeasance increases the total savings amount to about $3,380,000. Additional savings from an early payoff would be limited because of the small number of years remaining to final maturity and the low interest rate on the existing bonds.

Q. If the bond passes, where will the funding come from for staffing additional programs, campuses, buses, utilities of additional buildings, etc? Presumably this would mean a tax rate increase on top of the bond tax increase?
A. Any funding needed for growth (additional staffing, utilities, transportation, etc) would come from the increase in enrollment/Average Daily Attendance figured into the state funding formula. Without a separate tax rate election, the district is unable to increase the Maintenance & Operations rate over the maximum compressed rate plus any enrichment pennies available without an election. 

Q. So the early 2000's bond "new high school" will be paid off in a few years according to the finance guy that talked at the meeting on 10/7/24. He stated that it was at a .26% increase on school taxes. A question was asked will that fall off once it's paid off. His response was very professional to where someone that is unfamiliar with tax lingo and bond language wouldn't understand fully what he said. In short he said no. Is that because we will roll that over to the new bond because that's how it was structured all along to make it seem like it was only increasing .10%? 
A. The tax impact of the new bond states the change from the District's current tax rate ($0.9302) to the projected new tax rate, which is used to calculate bond capacity. The proposed total tax rate (including the additional 10.23 cents) presented at the community meetings and stated on the District's website is $1.0325. The portion of the tax rate that is allocated for bond payments (debt service) may be lowered if the District's values increase beyond what is required to cover the payments of the bonds.

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