NISD Seeks to Raise Your Taxes by About $100

The Northside Independent School District (NISD) is proposing to raise your annual property taxes by about $100.  Specifically, they are seeking a 4 cents increase in the tax rate per $100 of assessed value in order to fund "enrollment growth, teacher raises, and inflation."  This works out to about $100 for a $275,000 house with a 10% homestead exemption.  School districts are allowed to increase their tax rates by up to 4 cents a year without voter approval.  So they don't care whether you like it or not.  Nevertheless, they are required to hold a public hearing, and one is scheduled for August 19 at 7:00 pm in the Board Room at 5700 Evers Road.  For more information, see here.

Area Schools Improve, According to TEA

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released its school ratings for the 2007-2008 school year, and all three area schools have shown improvement.  Bob Beard Elementary School's rating improved from "Recognized" to "Exemplary," which is the highest possible rating.  The ratings for both Stinson Middle School and O'Connor High School improved from "Academically Acceptable" to "Recognized."  In all cases, our schools outperformed their nearest neighbors at the same grade level.  For detailed information on each school's rating, check out these web pages:

Beard Elementary School
Stinson Middle School
O'Connor High School

DA Susan Reed Asked to Intervene in Disannexation Effort

Our attorneys at Earl & Associates, P.C., have completed preparations for our disannexation effort and are now proceeding with their plan.  In order to get the ball rolling, they have formally petitioned Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed on July 22 to bring a quo warranto action to force the city to either arbitrate the service plans or to disannex our property.  This is what our attorney Scott Tschirhart had to say about this:

If the District Attorney intervenes, we feel that there is a good chance that your issues will be properly addressed.  However, if the District Attorney does not intervene, the litigation in this matter may become prohibitively expensive with no guarantee of a favorable outcome.  It is going to be hard to convince a judge in this county to undo the annexation without the help of the District Attorney's office.

Is there anything you can do to help?  Yes!  Please write or call Susan Reed and ask her to intervene in our case.  For instructions on how to do that, go here.

Work On Traffic Signals Continues

Despite hitting the water main serving the Fossil Springs subdivision on Wednesday, July 16, and leaving the community without water for the day, the work of installing the traffic signals on Hausman Road at both Sonoma Parkway and Windy Creek continues.  The installation of both lights "should" be completed by July 30, according to the TxDOT foreman supervising the effort.

The work on the Kyle Seale and Sonoma Parkway traffic light is also continuing.  No estimate on a completion date has been given.