MARATHON — The loss of tax revenue after the sale of the Brewster Ranch to the Texas General Land Office could force the Marathon Independent School District to make heart-breaking cuts, said Superintendent Ivonne Durant.
The Brewster Ranch is more than 353,000 acres containing multiple ranch leases that were taken off the tax rolls when it was sold to the Texas General Land Office on October 24. Because state land is tax exempt, its sale means a loss of revenue to all the taxing entities in Brewster County. Durant initially reported that it could see a loss of $62,422 for MISD alone. That would be the largest loss of all the local governments, said County Judge Greg Henington.
While she is still waiting for a clear picture of the exact number, Durant agrees that the loss will hit her district the hardest among the taxing entities impacted, adding that it comes at a time when they are already operating on a tight budget and having to think creatively to solve problems.
“The state refuses to give us the money that is [needed by] all districts, not just Marathon, not just rural,” Durant said. “But as that goes away, as inflation goes up, I have to spend more money now on supplies … I have to spend a lot more money on utilities.”
Marathon ISD is made up of two campuses, one housing pre-K and elementary grades, the other middle school and high school grade levels. It has 60 students and about 15 faculty members.
Having one class in the district taught by a husband and wife teaching team, with one teaching in the morning and the other in the afternoon, is one example of how they have had to be creative, she said.
While the district’s budget and funding are set for the remainder of the current school year, the loss could make cuts a necessity in the future. “I refuse to pass anything but a balanced budget,” Durant said.
Cuts could come to extracurricular programs, or even faculty. “We’re going to have to start looking at the student athletic program [for cuts],” Durant said, adding that the thought of it is sad. “Many kids, they come to school for that.”
Another option could be cutting a teacher position from the district, “which means teachers would have to double up on grade levels,” Durant said. “And that’s very taxing on them. I mean, that’s almost like a formula for failure.” Doubling up means that one teacher would be responsible for teaching two grade levels, including creating two sets of daily lesson plans and setting up for two different classes.
A GLO spokesperson said the agency is committed to making decisions that benefit Texas schoolchildren and that the ranch will be added to the state’s Permanent School Fund — an investment fund that allocates money each biennium to the school finance system. Grazing and hunting leases currently on the ranch and many potential, new revenue-generating options like hunting, eco-tourism, agriculture, mineral development, and soil carbon sequestration could help school districts, the agency said. However, aside from sales taxes that help pay for local school revenue, none of the ranch’s potential revenue would translate directly into more state funding for districts.
Henington said he was told about the sale of the ranch a few months prior to the close of the deal. He had hoped something similar to the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program that brings the county revenue from the area’s national parks might be put in place, but he found the state does not have any provision in its laws to do that.
Henington said he hopes the GLO will “keep an eye out for any special funding or other projects that [GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham] might have that would benefit Brewster County.”