Houston-area school tax proposals fail at polls

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Voters in six Houston-area school districts rejected property tax increase proposals on Election Day, leaving those districts to figure out how to keep schools running without the additional funding.

Cy-Fair, Channelview, Crosby, Huffman, La Porte and Spring ISD all asked voters to approve a proposition, and all failed.

SEE ALSO: Voters say 'no' to CFISD school tax rate hike for improvements

In La Porte, 63% of voters said no to a proposition the district said would have brought in more than $8 million and helped address a $12 million deficit.

Virginia Hollis, a retired La Porte teacher and voter, said it was an easy yes for her.

"They did a very good job of explaining the situation and why it would be a small increase," Hollis said.

But another La Porte voted with the majority.

"To them it might be 12 cents, but to us that goes towards our milk, our bread, you know, our light bill, gas bill, whatever," Melissa Torres said.

Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, a University of Houston education professor, said the ongoing conversation around property taxes appears to be driving voters to turn down school propositions across the state.

"Property tax relief has been a priority for the legislature and the governor in the last couple of sessions, but you have property values going up, so even if the rate goes down, the value goes up, and what that means is everyone is paying more," Snodgrass Rangel said.

Despite voters rejecting school bonds and propositions, Snodgrass Rangel said that as Texas shifts politically, districts may skip voters and go to the state for funding instead.

"As districts struggle to raise money locally, which is how our district is set up, whether this will put pressure on the state to change the way, to consider the way the schools are funded — the state, will it need to change the way it sends money to school districts," Snodgrass Rangel said.

Districts across the area said they respect voters' decisions and will be assessing what the future looks like.

Snodgrass Rangel said the failed votes could lead to layoffs in central offices or even larger class sizes.