Cedar Hill ISD superintendent makes case for tax vote at town halls

by Steve Snyder of TODAY Newspapers

CEDAR HILL — Cedar Hill Superintendent Horace Williams, in two official town halls, made his best case for voters to approve a 13-cent tax increase for the Cedar Hill Independent School District.

Williams was not alone, though. At the first town hall Sept. 23, at the Cedar Hill High School Performing Arts Auditorium, for example, he had plenty of backup.

That included Chief Academic Officer Homer Carter, Chief Operating Officer Kim Lewis, Chief Financial Officer Mike McSwain, Maintenance Director Bill Pinson and others.

Williams chose the high school, and the particular date and time, for a specific reason. With the high school hosting an open house that evening, he hoped to get plenty of parents dropping in on the town hall, especially with an informational table set up outside the auditorium.

Early on, though, the number of school employees in attendance seemed to equal the number of people from the general public. But, undeterred, Williams explained why the district needed a 13-cent tax increase.

In addition to neighboring DeSoto, and Dallas, which has problems carrying over from a year ago, Williams said that even the theoretically well-to-do Plano Independent School District was facing a deficit budget.

If Cedar Hill voters approve increasing the school district's tax rate from $1.04 per $100 of property valuation to $1.17, he said the district should get about $4 million a year in additional revenue.

Without it, even with spending down reserve funds, he said the district could face an $11 million deficit in five years.

He then stated why he and the Cedar Hill School Board opted for an Oct. 7 special election date rather than putting the issue on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

“You get to vote on just what's important to you,” he said. “In a general election, it gets lost.”

Williams held a second town hall Sept. 27, in addition to having previously visited several homeowners' associations.

Overall, more than 100 school districts around the state are putting tax rate elections before the voters. By state law, school districts that are maxed at the maximum of $1.04 they can levy without voter approval, must get that approval by a tax election to go to a $1.17 rate. Districts also cannot offer an intermediate rate; they must jump from $1.04 all the way to $1.17.

Early voting runs though Oct. 2 at the Government Center, 285 Uptown Blvd. Election Day voting is at Bray Elementary and Beltline Intermediate schools.