To better position the association for the future, the Texas PTA Board of Directors voted unanimously in October to present a membership dues change of $1.50. If approved by members at the Annual Meeting (July 22, 2023) during LAUNCH, this change of the state portion of membership dues from $2.25 to $3.75 would take effect August 1, 2024.
Rationale Fiscal Responsibility Logistics Return to Info Page
Rationale
When was the last time Texas PTA changed state membership dues?
Texas PTA has not changed state membership dues since 2009, fourteen years ago.
How did you come up with the amount?
Unlike many Local PTAs, nearly 40% of Texas PTA’s income is member dues. We are dependent upon them. So, we calculated the cost to serve each member.
$2,404,385 in expenses ÷ 457,000 members = $5.26 per member*
*expected expenses and membership for 2022-2023
While some other states charge between five and seven dollars per member, our practice is to offset some of those costs with non-dues revenue.
Adding $1.50 per member allows Texas PTA to increase the support and services we provide you, without requesting another increase in the near future.
Why should I support this change to the state membership dues?
The Texas PTA volunteer Board of Directors will continue to make fiscally responsible decisions while striving to make your job easier. Approving the change will allow us to pave the road forward, ensuring Texas PTA, as well as your PTA, remains relevant and able to serve Texas’ 5.4 million students and families, and to support you in more and better ways.
The volunteer Board of Directors has and wants to continue striving towards making your job easier, however operating at a dues amount set in 2009 makes it challenging to continue being innovative and relevant to members, leaders, district administrators, and legislators. Texas PTA wants to be innovative, not stagnant.
Approving an amount less than what was proposed will limit our ability to continue to innovate in ways that make your volunteer jobs easier.
How will this change to state membership dues pave the road to a better future?
Texas PTA is and has been fiscally responsible. As a result, we have made tremendous strides towards innovating, adding benefits, and keeping PTA relevant in Texas while not increasing state dues since 2009.
The volunteer Board of Directors believes the proposed amount will be adequate to not only sustain current levels of support but also to provide for future needs.
What does Texas PTA plan to do with the additional revenue and how will leaders and PTAs benefit?
Texas PTA plans to:
- make technology upgrades to improve the leader and member experience
- provide more translated materials
- offer additional leadership development opportunities
- enhance the free job-specific training offered online to PTA leaders
- increase the turnkey programs offered to Local and Council PTA at no cost
- expand advocacy efforts
- provide more scholarship and grant opportunities
The incoming volunteer Board of Directors will use your feedback to prioritize and make sound investments in these projects. Each is complex to implement and deserves dedicated time and attention to fully evaluate implementation strategies.
Is the change to state dues intended to add new staff? Some states are run exclusively by volunteers. How does Texas PTA staff impact our work?
While we have no immediate plans to do so, Texas PTA may need to add staff to accomplish our goal of making your job easier.
Texas PTA has 12 staff members compared to 21 in 2006.
State office staff answer the phone, at 1-800-TALK-PTA, and respond to email inquiries Monday through Friday. They ensure you have up-to-the-minute data, relevant and timely turnkey parent programs at no charge, grant opportunities, high-quality training events, and leader resources.
In addition to staff’s contributions, your volunteer Board of Directors and state committees provide additional layers of support and expertise to ensure that our 16,000+ local volunteer leaders have what they need to thrive. All combined, the state board and committee volunteers contribute approximately $1,661,868 in value annually.
As the second largest state PTA in the country, and the only one consistently growing in membership, Texas PTA couldn't offer the comprehensive services we do without staff and the volunteer Board of Directors working together.
Why is this a good time to change the state dues?
We are not in a dire situation, but we are at a crossroads. Texas PTA has managed and minimized expenses, sought additional sources of income, and been fiscally responsible. However, the cost of everything has gone up in the last 14 years.
Now is the time to vote on a change to the state membership dues so Texas PTA can pave the road forward to an even better future.
We recognize that change takes time and planning. The dues increase will not go into effect until August 1, 2024. Postponing the effective date gives leaders and members a full year to plan.
The proposed change to state membership dues is a $1.50 increase. How does this compare to other states?
While the dues structure and amounts are unique to each state, this change would make the cost of PTA membership in Texas comparable to other states.
Fiscal Responsiblity
How has Texas PTA been fiscally responsible?
Texas PTA has a proven track record of being fiscally responsible. We adhere to a budget process, use accounting controls and conduct third-party audits annually.
Over the last 14 years, we have weathered advances in technology, increased requirements governing nonprofit businesses, changes in the delivery of public education, a global pandemic, and evolving needs and expectations of volunteers and members, all without changing state membership dues.
Additionally, the cost of doing business since 2009 has gone up by 41%. What cost $1,000 in 2009 now costs around $1,400. Texas PTA has absorbed rising expenses affiliated with inflation without passing those costs to leaders or members. We would like to grow our support and offerings instead of continuing to make cuts. This will pave the road forward, allowing Texas PTA and every Local PTA to continue to be relevant well into the future.
What is Texas PTA doing to raise funds in addition to state membership dues?
Thanks to the foresight and wise decisions of our early leaders, Texas PTA owns the building that houses your state office staff, displays the association's historic artifacts, and hosts a multitude of training events. Two tenants rent part of our State Office building space.
Texas PTA also constantly works to continue its history of having strategic partnerships and paid sponsors for events and more.
What is Texas PTA doing to manage and minimize expenses?
We adhere to a budget process, use accounting controls and conduct third-party audits annually to manage expenses.
We have reduced staff, sought federal programs to contend with COVID losses, and diligently pursued non-dues-revenue sources.
Since 2006, Texas PTA has cut staff nearly in half. In response to COVID, Texas PTA reduced staff by 20% in 2021, cutting three positions. We condensed responsibilities to eliminate a management position in 2020, and cut an additional five positions between 2006 and 2020.
As you know, COVID caused dramatic reductions in our membership income. Rental and partnership income was also impacted as the state shutdown. Because of our fiscal responsibility, Texas PTA was awarded two Paycheck Protection Program loans and more recently an Employee Retention Tax Credit. Both loans have been forgiven, however, we cannot expect this supplemental income in the future.
Texas PTA will continue to make fiscal responsibility a top priority to ensure our association remains relevant to members, leaders, district administrators, and legislators in every community across our great state.
Logistics
Is there lead time for my PTA to adjust to the new state membership dues amount? When will this go into effect?
Texas PTA understands change takes time. While we are asking you to vote at our 2023 Annual Meeting, the change would not go into effect until August 1, 2024, our next membership year. In the meantime, we will provide resources to assist you in navigating the change.
Like so many of you, the Texas PTA volunteer Board of Directors has been forced to make difficult choices and complex decisions for the association in order to navigate the unprecedented pandemic and lingering recovery. Postponing the effective date gives leaders and members another full year to recover and plan.
Will I need to change my PTA’s bylaws?
No. Texas PTA’s dues amount is not listed as a dollar amount in your bylaws, so no update is required. The local bylaws state:
Section 2. Dues.
- This PTA shall remit a membership roster along with the national and state dues to Texas PTA for each of its members.
- Annual dues for each member shall be the sum of national dues plus state dues plus the local dues amount of $__ local dues
PTAs can:
- leave their bylaws as is and simply update membership forms to reflect the new total, or
- propose a bylaws amendment to their members that:
- decreases the local dues to an amount suitable for your community, or
- increases the local dues to an amount suitable for your community, or
- changes the local dues so the total is an even dollar amount.
PTAs that opt to change the local dues amount will be able to make this one specific bylaw amendment any time over the next year and opt for an effective date of August 1, 2024, so that the change will take place automatically on that date.
How would we submit membership rosters and pay dues?
The same way you do now. JoinPTA.org and Texas PTA’s Digital Upload feature will be updated with correct amount for you on August 1, 2024.
JoinPTA.org When your members find your ISD and PTA on JoinPTA.org, they will see the updated combined membership fee. Texas PTA will immediately send the member a membership card, forward the member information to your free myPTEZ account, and ACH the local portion of the dues directly into your bank account monthly as we do now.
Texas PTA’s free Digital Upload Feature When you login to upload your membership roster to the free online upload feature, Texas PTA will immediately send a digital membership card and the state dues amount will be automatically calculated for you at the new amount.
Mailed Rosters When you mail in a roster and check for dues, Texas PTA will contact you if the state dues amount is not correct.
Will the amount we receive for our local dues change if this goes into effect?
No. You will need to verify that your membership fliers, emails and posts contain a corrected amount on August 1, 2024. Here’s how:
- Check your bylaws to verify the amount listed as your local dues.
- Add the state and national dues amount to that.
- Update your membership materials.
The local dues amount stays the same unless your PTA votes to amend the local dues amount in the bylaws.
Example of how your total dues amount could change:
If Texas PTA’s dues update passes effective August 1, 2024, Texas PTA’s portion of the dues would go from $2.25 to $3.75.
- If a local PTA’s dues are $2.00, they would currently charge a member $6.50.
($2.25 National + $2.25 Texas + $2.00 Local)
- If the Texas PTA dues update passes, the total dues would go to $8.00.
($2.25 National + $3.75 Texas + $2.00 Local)
Note: National PTA has proposed a dues increase of $1.75 to be voted on June 2023 that would go into effect October 1, 2023, if it passes.
Texas PTA volunteers and staff stand ready to assist you. We will send multiple notifications and ensure your Council leaders and Field Service Representatives (FSRs) are equipped to assist you.
Our PTA and community have limited resources. How will Texas PTA be supportive of these campuses?
Year over year, we see parents, teachers, administrators, and community members making PTA membership a priority, consistently rejoining when asked. We believe the additional support and offerings afforded by this dues increase will, in themselves, make your job easier and facilitate growth in membership.
If, however, your campus struggles with membership now or in the future, Texas PTA, your Field Service Representative (FSR), and/or your council leaders are available to help brainstorm ways to seek possible sponsorship dollars to ensure inclusivity for all families.
Additional Questions?
If you have additional questions that weren't addressed in the FAQ above, please fill out this form and a staff or Board member will respond directly. Any pertinent questions will also be added to this page.