November 2024

Bill Spinks wspinks@cherryroad.com Midlothian ISD voters sent a message on Tuesday that their school district’s proposal to cover a budget shortfall didn’t appear to be “golden” enough. In an environment where voters’ senses were hyper-tuned to spending, MISD patrons flocked to the polls to reject the only significant local measure on the ballot — a voter-approved tax rate election, or VATRE, that would have moved three cents from the “interest and sinking” portion of the school’s property tax rate per $100 taxable valuation to the “maintenance and operations” part. The final vote was 16,530 in favor of the measure, and 12,298 against it. The referendum failed in all three modes of voting — absentee, early voting and Election Day. Even if approved, the MISD portion of residents’ property tax bills would have stayed unchanged at $1.1069 per $100 taxable valuation. This shift in funding would have allowed the district to access so-called “golden pennies” that will result in an additional estimated $4.7 million in funding. District funding priorities in the lead-up to the election, according to MISD, were teacher and staff compensation, lower class sizes, student programming and experiences, and safety and security enhancements. No county offices were contested in Tuesday’s election, but two prominent Republican locals will continue to represent the Cement City in Austin and Washington. Incumbent GOP Rep. Jake Ellzey, whose residence is near Midlothian, was re-elected to a second full term easily, defeating Democrat John Love III. Texas House Rep. Brian Harrison, who lives in Midlothian, was unopposed on the ballot with only a smattering of write-in votes. “I’ve been honored to fight for the freedom and liberty of all Texans since getting elected in 2021 and am proud to be one of the most effective conservatives in the Texas Legislature,” Harrison said in a statement […]