Understanding the Ballot Language

Here is the language for Proposition A that you can expect to see on the ballot when you go to cast your vote. A new state law requires very specific language on the ballot, and Mesquite ISD cannot alter it in any way, even to clarify what it means.

“Ratifying the ad valorem tax rate of $1.2846 in Mesquite Independent School District for the current year, a rate that will result in an increase of 12.1 percent in maintenance and operations tax revenue for the district for the current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an additional $13,235,213.”

What voters will see on the ballot is only information about the increase to the M&O side of the tax rate. 

Here are three important things to understand about the ballot language:

1. Although passage of ballot measure will add 3 cents to the M&O portion of the tax rate, the resulting total tax rate of $1.2846 is a decrease of  2.74 cents from 2021–22.
2. The ballot references the increased maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate, but does not mention the more than 4-cent decrease to the I&S rate and the 1.74-cent decrease in the M&O rate already approved by the Board of Trustees.
3. The net increase in funding for MISD as a result of passing the ballot measure would be $16.4 million each year.

Approval of the ballot measure will add $16.4 million in additional revenue to MISD’s budget each year—revenue that we plan to invest in more competitive salaries for teachers and other support personnel, enhanced safety and security measures and more academic choices for our students.