Sorry I guess I was remembering the demographics from the last time I had anything to with cfisd, 1994. I knew the size difference, but didn't realizE it changed so much.

Either way, they seem to be in a mess and other neighboring districts are doing ok.

and Mookie, that's why I'm really considering bailing...

That, and the fact that I REALLY want to teach High School Physics. I WANT to say that I shouldn't have too much of a problem with that, as I don't think Physics is something a lot of people want to teach, but I don't know. I figure this might finally be the time to leave CFISD, the way things are going.

I would never have guessed at that as the demographic information for CFISD. It came as a surprise. Many parts of it still feel surburan while others are heavily urban.

hah.. well if you teach there, I'm sure you are well aware of the amount of minorites.. oh wait a minute, I'm sorry, Hispanics are the majority now.. my bad.

My wife wants to leave too, but hard to find counseling position with no experience, and with one semester left in school.
So she will teach another year and wait it out. She got an offer from belville, but the much lower pay, and much higher transportation cost was just too much.. (about $8K a year less)..

But yeh 1994! hah, it was probably 85% white at that time.

[This message has been edited by metaltim (edited 7/9/2009 11:28a).]

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The debt service comes out of the BUDGET of which there is a shortfall.

If that $150M HS was less money there would be less of a budget shortfall since the debt service would be lower.

Maybe think before you stick your foot in your mouth.

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that money is earmarked. you cant take out a $150M bond for a high school and spend only $50M on the school and disperse the rest of it throughout the budget. so that part of the budget is essentially "covered".

the shortfalls are coming in other places. they should have just done away with the optional hs exemption. it is going to happen sooner or later.

The homestead exemption thing is a stupid argument regarding the overall budget. I understand the legislature needs to fix their formula part. Hoever, if you need to raise a certain amount of money from property taxes and you have the exemption, you have to have a higher overall rate to get to your revenue forecast. That is the current situation. If you get rid of the exemption, then the tax rate will need to be lowered in turn so that the changes are revenue neutral.

We aren't stupid out here where you are going to trick us into thinking we were getting some great deal all these years and haven't been paying enough in taxes. The exemption just madethe rate higher on the property that was taxed. The district still raised the amount of revenue that was necessary. It wasn't some freebie. All the exemption has done is put a smaller burden on the cheaper property and a heavier burden via a higher rate on the remaining property. Most of those on the left call that enlightened tax policy as you have a lower burden on the poorest folks.

Thanks for the backup Big Puma. I think your point only further illustrates the ignorance of some people when it comes it this situation.

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that money is earmarked. you cant take out a $150M bond for a high school and spend only $50M on the school and disperse the rest of it throughout the budget. so that part of the budget is essentially "covered".

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I understand the bond is earmarked. But they only needed $50m for the HS, then the bond would not be as much and therefor the debt service would be smaller with a lower impact on the budget.

CFISD plans what they need to build and forcasts ahead to get bonds approved to build stuff. If they could build it cheaper, they wouldn't need as much in the bond to start with. That's all I'm saying. In the end, they likely ask for as much as they think they can get passed.

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Thanks for the backup Big Puma. I think your point only further illustrates the ignorance of some people when it comes it this situation.

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Still got your foot in your mouth I see.

He's not 'backing you up'. He pointing out that you cannot take bond money and use if for something other than what it's earmarked for.

Stop being an ass. If you've got something to add, then do so.

[This message has been edited by agracer (edited 7/9/2009 12:18p).]

Bond issues aren't that hard to figure out. bond money goes to certain bond projects. some people get this (like agracer), some people don't.

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CFISD plans what they need to build and forcasts ahead to get bonds approved to build stuff. If they could build it cheaper, they wouldn't need as much in the bond to start with. That's all I'm saying. In the end, they likely ask for as much as they think they can get passed.

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Agracer,
i understand your point. i am not in the know as far as how much they think can get passed, etc.
I do know that a lot of times if the issues come up originally are voted down, the second time around they are likely to be twice as expensive. Katy had a bond issue do this. the second time when it was really evident that the issue was needed, it was twice as expensive. (The one containing the freshmen center at Morton Ranch HS)

[This message has been edited by BigPumaRebel (edited 7/9/2009 1:25p).]

http://www.cfisd.net/key/2008/key_042108finance.pdf

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4. Why can’t we remove the homestead exemption?
The optional 20-percent Homestead Exemption is a source of tax relief for our residents and our
Trustees have been steadfast in providing that tax burden relief for years, well before that became the
intent of our legislators. In addition, there is no guarantee (the rules have not been written) that a
Message from the Superintendent
Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District
reduction or elimination of the optional 20-percent Homestead Exemption would increase our revenue
target. It could very well result in an increase in our residents’ tax rate, with no benefit to our district.

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But this is beating a dead horse. Anyway, the money raised from the bond can only be used for new construction but these facilities add to the budget burden. Any businessman can tell you that Cy-Fair is over leveraged.