Proposition A: tax rate election (VATRE)
The key number
$9,142,763
That is how much more McKinney ISD property owners would pay in maintenance and operations taxes in the first year if Prop A passes. The figure is in the ballot language itself.
About $117 a year
What that works out to on the district's median-valued homestead of $368,036, compared with voting no.
About $5 million of the $9.1 million leaves McKinney ISD. See Where the money goes below.
Your own cost: your taxable value × $0.0317 ÷ 100. Your taxable value is the value your school tax bill is based on, after your exemptions.
As of October 5, 2026, the comparison the district's mailer and web pages left out was yes versus no: a total rate of $1.0664 per $100 if Prop A passes, against $1.0347 if it fails.
Jump to why this site recommends NO
Where the money goes
The ballot asks voters to approve $9,142,763 in additional maintenance and operations tax revenue. McKinney ISD would not keep all of it.
The district's own efficiency audit says the district "expects to generate approximately $4 million net of recapture payments in M&O tax revenue from the proposed increase in tax rate in the first school year." The district's board announcement puts the figure at "approximately $4.1 million annually after recapture." Either way, more than half of the $9.1 million does not stay in McKinney ISD.
Recapture is the part of Texas school finance that sends local property tax revenue from districts with high property values to the state school finance system. The state uses it to help finance public education for all Texas school districts. The Texas Legislature calls these amounts local revenue in excess of entitlement (Texas Education Code Chapter 49). It is also known as "Robin Hood." McKinney ISD is subject to it, which is why the district reports the increase net of recapture.
So the choice in front of voters is this: local property owners pay about $9.1 million more, and in the first school year McKinney ISD keeps about $4 million of it.
Opinion: Recapture is state law, not a choice the board made, and the district is right that it cannot change it. However, the board chose the amount to ask for, knowing that more than half of it would leave the district. This site thinks voters are entitled to see the $9.1 million that they would pay alongside the $4 million that the district would keep.
What a no vote does not do
- The compressed rate and the debt service rate stay either way. Without Prop A, the district's own filings put the maintenance and operations (M&O) rate at $0.7147 per $100 and the debt service rate at $0.3200, a total of $1.0347. (Form 50-859, Lines 29 and 37; Efficiency Audit, Section II; the district's tax rate page.)
- A no vote does not take away the reserves the district already has. At the end of 2024-25 its unassigned general fund balance was $93.1 million, which is 108.3% of a three-month reserve. The audit's average for its 10 peer districts was 92.6%.
- Prop A is small next to the budget. The audit says it would raise about $4 million after recapture payments in its first year, about 1.418% of the district's adopted 2026-27 operating budget. The ballot language states the gross figure, an additional $9,142,763.
- What gets cut after a no vote, if anything, is a decision for the board, not for voters.
The district describes what is at stake differently. Its FAQ says that if Prop A does not pass, the district "would face a remaining shortfall and would have to consider further reductions," reaching "student programming, campus staffing, transportation services and the classroom experience," and that "the efficiencies outside the classroom have largely been taken." The audit puts it more narrowly: without the increase, the district "would be required to review District needs to determine priorities within budget limitations." This page does not say that no cuts would follow a no vote. It says the board would decide them.
Tax rates compared
A rate of $1.0664 per $100 means $1.0664 of tax for every $100 of taxable value.
| Scenario | Total rate | Yearly tax on a $368,036 home | M&O | I&S |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last year (2025–26) | $1.1043 | $4,064 | $0.7343 | $0.3700 |
| If Prop A fails | $1.0347 | $3,808 | $0.7147 | $0.3200 |
| If Prop A passes (the rate adopted for 2026–27) | $1.0664 | $3,925 | $0.7464 | $0.3200 |
The district publishes the $1.0347 figure itself. Its Notice of Public Meeting lists $1.0347 as the "voter-approval rate," the highest rate the district can adopt without an election. Form 50-859, Line 37, gives the same $1.0347 as the current-year voter-approval tax rate. The Efficiency Audit, Section II, gives its two parts: an M&O rate of $0.7147 without an election and a debt service rate of $0.3200. The "last year" and "passes" rows are in the board's agenda item, the resolution and the Notice of Public Meeting.
The last column multiplies each total rate by the district's 2026 median-valued homestead of $368,036: ($368,036 ÷ 100) × the total rate. The $3,925 matches the district's own published figure. The district shows $4,227 for last year because it used last year's median value, $382,757, so the $4,064 here applies last year's rate to this year's median value, for comparison. The difference between a no vote and a yes vote is $117 a year ($3,925 minus $3,808).
Vote once, pay every year
The ballot language says $0.7464 is "the maximum rate for maintenance and operations for which the District may, if now approved by the district’s electorate at this Election, levy in each year hereafter, being then subject only to annual Board approval."
This is the only time voters are asked. In this site's reading of that wording, once the rate is approved it does not come back to voters: the board sets it each year on its own authority. At the median-valued homestead's taxable value today, that is an additional $117 a year, and under the ballot's wording it is not limited to this one year.
What the district says, and what the documents say
The district is right that the total rate is lower than last year's $1.1043. The items below are where its wording and its own documents differ, or where a comparison is missing.
- The mailer. Its 5 Proposition Plan table lists Prop A as "Ratifies a tax rate of $1.0664" and shows "M&O rate" under Amount. The M&O rate is $0.7464. The $1.0664 is the total rate.
- The resolution. The tax rate resolution the board adopted says M&O "is required to be compressed from $0.7343 per $100 valuation to $0.7464 per $100 valuation." State compression takes the M&O rate down to $0.7147 (Form 50-859, Line 29). The $0.7464 is that compressed rate plus the $0.0317 VATRE, which exists only if voters approve it.
- The board memo. The administration's memo to the board of the same date lists the M&O change plainly: $0.7343 to $0.7464, up $0.0121. The motion language it supplies calls the adopted rate "effectively a 0.4049% increase in the tax rate."
- The ballot. It reads "THIS IS A TAX INCREASE."
- The no-new-revenue rate. Form 50-859, Line 26, gives the current-year no-new-revenue rate as $1.0621. The form describes that as the rate that would produce the same revenue from the same properties taxed in both years. The board adopted $1.0664, which is above it.
- The peer comparison. The Efficiency Audit says the district's proposed 2026-27 M&O rate of $0.7464 is more than the 10-peer average proposed rate of $0.7340. In 2025-26, the district's M&O rate of $0.7343 was below the peer average of $0.7404.
- The audit confirms the two rates. The audit was commissioned by the district and conducted by Eide Bailly LLP. It says that without voter approval the M&O rate would be $0.7147, and that the district proposes to raise it by $0.0317 to $0.7464 (Section II).
What the district says Prop A is for
The district's materials describe Prop A as paying for teachers and classrooms rather than buildings. In summary:
- Teacher pay is compared each year with neighboring and peer districts, and Prop A would fund teacher salaries.
- The district says it cut $15 million from its budget and that a $6 million deficit remains, which Prop A would close.
- The district says class sizes have grown and campus staff has been reduced.
- The district says that without more revenue it may have to look at further reductions, including transportation and student programs.
Exact ballot language
As it will appear on the ballot, from the district's election order and the county's sample ballot:
PROPOSITION A
THIS IS A TAX INCREASE“Ratifying the ad valorem tax rate of $1.0664 per $100 valuation in the McKinney Independent School District for the current year, a rate that will result in an increase of 4.4222 percent in maintenance and operations tax revenue for the District for the current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an additional $9,142,763.”
Full text of the proposition as written in the order
“Shall the Board of Trustees of the McKinney Independent School District be authorized to levy, pursuant to an order of such Board adopted on August 10, 2026, an ad valorem tax rate of $1.0664 per $100 of the taxable assessed valuation of property within the McKinney Independent School District for the current tax year, being a rate that is comprised of a maintenance and operations tax rate of $0.7464 per $100 of such taxable assessed valuation (the maximum rate for maintenance and operations for which the District may, if now approved by the district’s electorate at this Election, levy in each year hereafter, being then subject only to annual Board approval) and a debt service tax rate of $0.3200 per $100 of such taxable assessed value (an amount that is set annually by the Board), which combined tax rate of $1.0664 adopted by the Board on August 10, 2026 represents an increase of an additional $9,142,763 in maintenance and operations tax revenue to the District in the 2026-2027 school year, which is approximately 4.4222% higher than the amount of maintenance and operations tax revenue collected last year pursuant to section 26.08, as amended, Texas Tax Code?”
What a VATRE is and what it does
VATRE stands for voter-approval tax ratification election. Prop A is a tax rate election, not a bond, so it has no principal or interest.
Approving Prop A ratifies the total rate the board adopted on August 10, 2026: $0.7464 per $100 for M&O and $0.3200 per $100 for debt service (I&S). The ballot language says this brings in an additional $9,142,763 in M&O tax revenue, about 4.4222% more than last year.
The full text of the proposition also says $0.7464 is the maximum M&O rate the district may levy in each year hereafter, subject only to annual board approval.
Where the change from last year comes from
The district's tax-rate page lists three steps from last year's total rate of $1.1043 per $100 to the proposed $1.0664 per $100. Every figure in this list is per $100:
- The state compresses the M&O rate from $0.7343 to $0.7147, down $0.0196. The page says it is compressed by the state due to property value increases.
- The district lowers the debt service rate from $0.37 to $0.32, down $0.0500.
- Prop A adds $0.0317 for the VATRE bringing M&O to $0.7464, which is $0.0121 higher than last year.
Net, the total rate is $0.0379 per $100 lower than last year. Of the $0.0696 in reductions, the debt service cut is the larger part ($0.0500), and the state's compression is $0.0196. Prop A adds back $0.0317.
The district's mailer says "With a Lower Tax Rate!" on the front and "THE DISTRICT LOWERED THE TAX RATE. VOTER APPROVAL FUNDS THE PROJECTS" on the back. These comparisons are with last year. As of October 5, 2026, neither the mailer nor the district's tax-rate page stated the total rate if Prop A fails.
What it means for a home
The district's tax-rate page and its Taxpayer Impact Statement use a median-valued homestead of $368,036 for 2026. On that value, the extra $0.0317 per $100 is about $117 a year (($368,036 ÷ 100) × $0.0317 per $100 = $116.67).
The district gets its published bills by multiplying that value directly by the total rate ($3,925 for 2026, and $4,227 for 2025 on a median value of $382,757), with no exemption subtracted. A bill figured that way only works on a taxable value, so this site reads $368,036 as already net of exemptions. As of October 5, 2026, the district's page labeled it only "Median-Valued Homestead."
If that is right, the implied median market values are $508,036 for 2026 ($368,036 plus the $140,000 state homestead exemption) and $522,757 for 2025. These two figures are implied by this site's arithmetic and assume only that exemption. They are not district figures.
To estimate your own: take your home's taxable value (the value after your exemptions, shown on your appraisal notice and tax bill), divide by 100, and multiply by $0.0317. That is the extra yearly school tax from a yes vote, compared with a no vote.
Why this site recommends NO (opinion)
- About $117 a year more in taxes on the median-valued homestead, compared with voting no.
- The ballot puts the tax increase at $9,142,763 in the first year. By the district's own figures, only about $4 million of that would stay in McKinney ISD after recapture, so about $5 million (the difference between the two figures, by this site's arithmetic) would leave the district for the state school finance system in that first year. Property owners would pay the full amount.
- The ballot itself says this is a tax increase, and the adopted rate already exceeds the no-new-revenue rate.
- This is a one-time vote with a permanent effect. Approving Prop A sets $0.7464 as the maximum M&O rate the district may levy in each year hereafter, not just in 2026. In this site's reading, after this election the board can keep levying it on its own authority, and voters are not asked again.
- As of October 5, 2026, every number the district put in its mailer and on its web pages compared this year's rate with last year's, and none compared yes with no. The district's own filings show a rate of $1.0347 if Prop A fails (the tax rate worksheet and the public meeting notice, with the audit giving the same two parts) and $1.0664 if it passes. The difference works out to about $117 a year on the median-valued homestead. As those pages read on October 5, 2026, that comparison was not in the mailer, on the district's Prop A page, or on its tax rate page.
Sources for this page: VATRE election order, tax rate calculation worksheet (Form 50-859), notice of public meeting, the district's efficiency audit, tax rate resolution, the district's tax rate page, its board announcement, the district's printed mailer, and, for recapture, TEA's excess local revenue page and Texas Education Code Chapter 49.
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