Spring Independent School District voters will decide November 3 whether to approve an operating-tax increase projected to provide $15.5 million in additional funding, according to Texas Scorecard. District trustees unanimously placed Proposition A on the ballot in August as Spring ISD manages repeated budget deficits and declining enrollment.
The proposition would authorize a total property-tax rate of $1.1569 per $100 of taxable value, compared with $1.1369 in the previous year. Spring ISD estimates that the measure would generate about $5.6 million in additional local revenue and make another $9.9 million in state funding available.
The practical difference between passage and defeat is larger than the two-cent year-over-year comparison. Texas Scorecard reported that if voters reject the proposition, the total rate would fall to $1.1069 because five cents of previously authorized disaster-related tax authority would expire. Approval therefore represents a five-cent difference from the rate that would otherwise take effect.
District officials estimate that approval would cost the owner of an average home valued at roughly $248,000 an additional $22 per year, assuming a homestead exemption and comparing the proposal with the prior year’s rate. That is the district’s estimate; individual tax effects depend on taxable value and exemptions.
Spring ISD projected an $8.7 million deficit for the 2026-27 school year after five consecutive years of shortfalls reduced its available fund balance. Trustees approved a $500.8 million operating budget in June. The spending plan included a retention stipend for returning teachers, additional incentives for some special-education employees and marketing intended to increase enrollment.
Enrollment fell by 1,241 students, or 3.7 percent, from the 2024-25 school year to 2025-26, according to Texas Education Agency figures cited by the publisher. Superintendent Kregg Cuellar said the loss of approximately 1,500 students in one year reduced state funding by an estimated $9.3 million. Officials have also identified the district’s self-funded employee health plan as a major expense.
Proposition A would fund ongoing operations rather than authorize capital borrowing. The distinction matters because voters approved an $850 million bond package in 2022, when the district already carried about $639 million in outstanding bond principal. Early voting runs October 19 through October 30. The election gives residents a direct choice between additional operating revenue and a lower tax rate while the district confronts enrollment and spending pressures.