AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Round Rock Independent School District Board of Trustees on Thursday approved salary increases for all staff during its approval of the 2023-24 school year compensation plan.

Trustees gave the green light on Thursday during their regular meeting Thursday night.

The currently approved compensation plan for the upcoming year includes a 3% general pay increase for teachers and librarians. The increase was based on the median teacher salary of $58,467, which equates to a $1,750 annual raise for all teachers and librarians, according to RRISD.

The district said all other staff members would receive a 2% general pay increase based on the midpoint rate of the pay grade in which their position is grouped, which will ensure that all employees within a particular pay grade receive an equal pay increase.

Trustees also explored potentially calling for a voter-approved tax rate election, or VATRE, to be put on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The VATRE, if approved by voters, would “allow Round Rock ISD to increase staff salaries further and offset the loss of federal funding, increased recapture payments and inflation by generating additional local revenue to use for the District’s operations budget,” the district said.

“A VATRE allows voters to approve or disapprove the tax rate adopted by the Board of Trustees,” the district said. “If passed, it will allow Round Rock ISD to access the maximum amount of tax revenue from golden pennies, which is not subject to recapture and would remain with the District. Recapture takes taxpayer money from school districts deemed “property rich” and distributes it to other school districts instead of those funds going to their community schools. This year alone, Round Rock ISD will contribute over $85 million back to the state of Texas as part of recapture.”

If approved, the VATRE would inject approximately $21 million annually into the district’s operating budget. RRISD said approximately 88% of the district’s operations budget is dedicated to staff salaries.

If voters approve the VATRE, all RRISD employees would see an additional 3% general pay increase for the 2023-24 school year. The cost to support the additional 3 percent salary increase for all employees would be around $21 million.

Approval of the VATRE would bring the projected tax rate for RRISD to $1.0064 for the 2023-2024 school year. The district’s tax rate for the 2022-23 school year is $1.0626.

The district said it would be able to achieve this lower tax rate due to the state lowering the maximum compressed rate and the district lowering its I&S tax rate by one penny.