The Rattlesnake Wind Farm added over $62 million in taxable value to property located in Brady ISD. Your 2018 tax rates have already been set and therefore will not increase if the propositions are approved. If all bond propositions are approved your 2019 property tax rate will not exceed $1.36 per $100, which equals the 2017 tax rate.

The tax rate in 2017 was $1.36 / $100 (O&M and I&S). Because of the value added by the wind farm, when you pay taxes for 2018, your tax rate will be $1.30 / $100. If any bond propositions are passed, in any combination or invididually, the tax rate will change back to the 2017 level of $1.36 / $100, with the bonds paid off as quickly as that tax rate allows, as shown in the table below.

If you are over the age of 65, your home property taxes will not increase, if you have filed for the “Over 65” homestead exemption. This tax freeze is on the homestead only, and may be adjusted up if major renovations are done to the property. If the bond referendum passes, your school taxes will not increase if you qualify for the homestead exemption.

Brady ISD holds a high (A2) Moody rating and will qualify for a low interest rate. Further, Brady ISD has a FIRST (School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) Rating of “Superior.” Based on fifteen indicators Brady ISD scored a “yes” or a perfect “10” in each indicator. The district scored a perfect score of 100 thus awarding the district a “superior” rating.

The Rattlesnake project is the windmill farm has added over $62 million of taxable value to Brady ISD in 2018. When these types of projects choose a location, the local school district and development company typically reach what is called a 313 agreement. This agreement is a compromise between the school district and the development company in which the development company is relieved of some tax burden with a limitation on Maintenance & Operations taxes for the local school district, but is subject to the full I&S tax rate, which are the taxes school districts use to fund facility projects through bonds.

What this means for Brady ISD and its community is that the only opportunity to benefit from new value of the Rattlesnake windmill farm is through facility bonds payments. Because of the 313 agreement, these funds cannot be used for increased payroll, to buy materials, or for any other operations expenses. These funds can only be used on bond payments.

Another option that is not available to Brady ISD is using these funds to pay off current bond debt early. Because of its bond agreements, Brady ISD is not able to increase its payments like you might with a mortgage to pay the loan off sooner.

Rattlesnake is estimated to peak at $182,000,000 in taxable value, adding 40% on top of current taxable value, and will decrease roughly 5% a year every year from then on. This means that each year the district will receive roughly 5% less from Rattlesnake to help with bond payments.

This gives Brady ISD citizens two options:

The first is to do nothing, which will result in a tax decrease on I&S taxes of approximately $56 on a $75,000 home each year.

The second is to pass a bond to use the Rattlesnake tax revenue to fund facility improvements. Within this option there are several possibilities.

Because of the 5% drop in tax revenue from Rattlesnake every year, if the Brady ISD community wants to benefit from the Rattlesnake tax revenue by addressing facility needs, it is most advantageous for Brady ISD to issue bonds as quickly as possible.