Recapture is on the rise (again). While HB 3 (86R) helped to curb the growth of recapture, it did not bring a lasting reduction.
When schools make their recapture payments by August 15, the TEA Summary of Finance shows payments will total $2.98 billion. When it is all said and done, that number will change through the settle-up process and many districts will pay less than their SOF amount. However, the state is requiring that federal ESSER II dollars be used to pay for the ADA hold harmless, and that fact that will cause increased recapture amounts for many districts.
This means that local property taxpayers are seeing more of their local taxes sent to the state--a record-breaking amount. But other schools are not experiencing increased funding as a result of that. In fact, the $1.4 billion increase in recapture for the 20-21 biennium (above the estimated amount that was appropriated) was used as a means of state savings when the supplemental appropriations act was adopted in May.
The Texas School Coalition issued a press release this morning regarding the record-setting amount of recapture schools are expected to pay.
You can view that here. Please feel free to share this information with your local news outlets and include some details and context from your local district.
Please let us know if you have any questions or need some follow-up.