Skidmore-Tynan school officials say they may have to lay off faculty and staff if voters reject a proposed 6-cent tax rate hike on Friday.

Successful educational programs also may be slashed if the tax rate election fails, S-TISD Superintendent Dr. Brett Belmarez said.

He said the tax rate increase, if approved, will raise an estimated $355,0000 — the amount needed to balance the 2008-09 budget.

The 6-cent increase will fetch $75,000 in local tax dollars and $280,000 in matching funds from the state because S-TISD is considered a property poor school district, Belmarez explained.

The election is needed because school trustees voted in September to adopt a $6,557,666 budget and proposed tax rate of $1.28 that is higher than the rollback rate of $1.21.

S-TISD presently charges taxpayers $1.38 for every $100 worth of property they own. Of that amount, $1.04 goes to maintaining and operating schools and 34 cents goes to pay off long-term debt.

However, S-TISD can levy a lower tax rate this year — $1.28 — and still generate the same amount of property tax revenue it did over the past 12 months.

Of that amount, $1.10 will go to maintaining and operating schools and about 18 cents will go to pay off long-term debt, in this case some $3.9 million in bonds.

The amount allocated to debt service is halved, from 34 cents to 17 cents per $100 value, because the state picked up much of the cost of the $3.9 million bond package approved by voters last year, Belmarez said.

School trustees say they have been good stewards with tax dollars, and are quick to note that the school district has successfully worked to save tax dollars by seeking out state grants when possible.

Belmarez said S-TISD administrators sought and received an Instructional Facilities Allotment award earlier this year. The IFA allotment will pay for half of the large portion of the annual debt payment on the $3.9 million bond package.

“The overall tax rate will actually be 16 cents lower because of the IFA award,” Belmarez noted.

The $3.9 million bond issue paid for a new science building, ag building, computer classrooms, walkway covers, parking lot and covered recreational building.

A new state law requires school districts to hold a tax rate election whenever they want a tax rate increase.

Taxpayers who are 65 and older and disabled will see no increase in taxes no matter the outcome of Friday’s election.

Although state law prohibits school officials from endorsing a tax rate hike, Belmarez said the school district has done an excellent job of educating students and has many successful academic programs “thanks to faculty and staff, coupled with community support.”

S-TISD earned the coveted “recognized” rating from the Texas Education Agency this year. Also, two of the school district’s three campuses earned the “recognized” rating.

The school district also has won 18 “Gold Performance” awards from the TEA.

In addition, he said, all S-TISD campuses and the district as a whole met federal “No Child Left Behind” requirements.

Some S-TISD teachers earned three state grant incentive paycheck awards due to outstanding TAKS performance scores.

Also, the district has earned a “Superior Achievement” financial rating from the state for six consecutive years.

If voters reject the tax rate increase, school officials will have to cut the 2008-09 budget by $355,000.

To slash that amount from the spending plan, trustees may have to consider cutting jobs, Belmarez said.

The number of jobs to be cut, if any, have yet to be determined, he added.

Six of the seven trustees are asking voters to approve the tax rate increase. They signed their names to a news release endorsing the tax rate hike.

Board President Rick Olivares did not sign the news release.

“I’m not saying I’m for it or against it; I’m going to let the voters decide,” he said. “But I didn’t sign (the news release) because I didn’t feel comfortable with the way it was brought to us. It was brought to us in executive session and I wasn’t sure if that was on the agenda.”

Voting will take place in the central office/board room, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5.

Similar tax rate increase elections were held by Beeville ISD and Pettus ISD in November and were rejected by voters.