Randy Brown, superintendent of Coahoma Independent School District, said those two factors are forcing district trustees to consider a tax hike rate of 12 cents per $100 valuation for the new budget year, which starts in September.

Mineral values within the district, which have been on the rise the past few years, will decrease for the new fiscal year, Brown said. That, combined with a $266,000 increase in bond payments, will likely force trustees to vote for the tax rate increase.

Brown said administrators will propose a tax rate of $1.33 per $100 valuation — up from the current rate of $1.21 — to trustees later this summer.

The increase will solely be in the debt service portion of the tax rate, he said.

“There's a couple of factors causing this,” Brown said. “Our mineral values are going down and our bond payment is going up (from $637,000 to $903,000).”

The good news is that bond payments will remain fairly constant during the next several years, staying in the $900,000 range, Brown noted.

Debt service payments have caused CISD's tax rate to yo-yo the past few years. In 2007-2008 — the first year taxpayers began making payments on the $13 million bond approved in late 2006 — the overall tax rate was $1.29. With increased property valuations the following year, however, the tax rate dropped by 8 cents for the current budget cycle.

The news will be doubly aggravating for some CISD taxpayers this year, Brown warned.

“Although our mineral valuations are down, values for agriculture properties will increase,” he said. “That means that although overall values are down, farmers are going to see their taxes go up.”

Brown said he sympathizes with ag producers in the district.

“They don't like (the tax situation) and I certainly don't like it,” he said. “The current system is not fair ... This will certainly be difficult for agriculture producers, but short of a new tax system, there's not a lot we can do.”

Trustees will hold a budget workshop in July and will formally adopt a new budget and tax rate in August.

Brown urged district taxpayers with questions to contact him at 394-4290.

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331 ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it