On Nov. 4, southern Denton County voters will hit the polls to decide on a variety of items including school district and city propositions, as well as 17 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution.
Denton ISD and Northwest ISD have both called for special elections that will raise taxes in order to fund district maintenance and operations expenses.
According to the districts, the extra funds will “cover costs for teacher retention, recruiting, classroom resources and student programs.”
While it is technically a tax increase, both districts claim taxpayers still won’t pay as much in taxes as the year before due to recent property tax relief bills passed by the Texas Legislature.
Northwest ISD proposed a 3-cent increase, which the district said would generate $12 million in revenue. A significant portion of that will decrease class sizes and the rest will be used to retain teachers and support staff.
Denton ISD said its increase would generate $26 million in revenue for the district.
Lewisville ISD did not call for a tax increase, but a special election was called to replace a vacant seat on the Board of Trustees.
In July, Dr. Buddy Bonner resigned from his position on the LISD Board of Trustees once he realized one of his relatives had been hired by the district, which would violate LISD’s nepotism policy.
The district could have appointed a new trustee to the At-Large Place 6 seat, but decided to call a special election instead.
Two candidates are vying for the seat.
Michelle Alkhatib, currently serving on the school board, announced she will be running for the At-Large Place 6 position since she won’t be able to run for reelection due to a change in the district’s Board of Trustees structure.
Madison Lopez, a Lewisville High School graduate, will challenge Alkhatib for the seat. She was highlighted by Lewisville ISD’s Education Foundation in 2022 for her volunteer work through Hurricane Katrina and her pursuit of a law degree at Southern Methodist University.
On the municipal level, the City of Justin called for a $19 million bond election to renovate City Hall.
Funds will go toward improvements throughout the 12,500-square-foot City Hall and the attached gymnasium from when the building was used as an elementary school. The hope is to turn it into more of a community center.
If passed, the bond would be issued in 2027 and taxpayers will see the increased rate reflected on their tax bills in 2028.
Justin’s City Council said the city will look at refinancing some of its current debt to alleviate some costs to taxpayers by 2028 when payments on the bond would begin.
In Argyle, a special tax election is on the ballot that would increase the sales tax rate in the Belmont Fresh Water Supply District, more commonly known as the Harvest Town Center commercial area.
Currently, the total sales tax collected within Argyle’s town limits is 2%, which is the maximum allowed by the state. It includes 1% of general sales and use tax with an additional 1% that was adopted by Argyle voters and is split between the Municipal Development District (.25%), the Crime Control and Prevention District (.25%) and street maintenance (.5%).
For Harvest, located in Argyle’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, retailers only pay the 1% in general sales tax and the .25% tax to the MDD.
According to Argyle’s Town Manager Mike Sims, the change aims to bring in more sales tax revenue for the Town from retailers along the I-35W corridor without affecting any Argyle residents.
“It’s not going to change anything for Argyle proper residents, they won’t be paying any more than they do now,” said Sims. “For a resident in Harvest, it’s not going to be a noticeable thing. If they go out and buy something, the sales tax will be the same as if they went to a business in Argyle proper.”
Town documents estimate the increased revenue to be more than $100,000 per year.
“We know that as a commercial area,” said Sims. “Collecting the sales tax is helpful to the town because we might want to provide police service over there and it’s helpful to the development because you can use some of the sales taxes that are collected to help pay off the debt of the water district improvements.”
At the state level, voters will decide on 17 proposed Constitutional Amendments that range from property tax cuts to funding for water infrastructure, technical colleges and dementia research.
Many of the proposals lower or eliminate taxes for homeowners, businesses, veterans’ spouses and others.
More measures prohibit future taxes on capital gains, securities transactions and inheritances. Others would expand bail restrictions, codify parental rights and clarify voting eligibility.
Amendments that include state funding would support water projects and establish a $3 billion institute for dementia prevention and research.
Denton County Precinct 4 Commissioner Dianne Edmondson did a deep dive into the amendments and what voters should understand about each one.
Early voting will run from Oct. 20-31 and Election Day is set for Nov. 4. To participate in this election, voters must have registered by Oct. 6.
