Just because it’s in black and white — and in all caps — doesn’t necessarily make it true.

That’ll be the case in May when Tyler ISD residents cast a vote to decide the district’s $89 million bond package.

On each ballot, expect to see these six words: “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.”

But that’s not the case, according to Tyler ISD officials. They say the bond package — broken into two propositions with $63 million funding a new Hubbard Middle School and $26 million going toward a new Early College High School — would not raise tax bills.

The language stems from the state’s massive school finance overhaul bill of 2019 and is required to go on every school bond ballot, regardless if it’s accurate or not.

The issue is obvious: How many people are likely to vote “no” to a school bond proposal because it says right there on the ballot that the bond will raise their taxes?

Dax Gonzalez, division director for the Texas Association of School Boards governmental relations, told us he “could see how a cynical person would say it was an intentional effort to slow the passage of school district propositions.”

We’re not sure if that’s the true intent of the law or not.

Gonzalez also said supporters of this provision of HB 3 argued it would provide transparency to bond voters.

But we don’t agree with that reasoning either. What the law seems to do is simply sow confusion.

It’s a head-scratching problem, and one the Legislature should address when it reconvenes next year.

We urge Texas lawmakers to simply ensure each school bond proposal is treated on its own merits and not a one-size-fits-all approach.

It’s true that school bonds traditionally have raised homeowners’ taxes. But Tyler ISD officials say that’s not the case with their package on May’s ballot because of stable — and growing — appraised property values.

Tyler ISD School Board President Wade Washmon said previously that the district’s tax rate has “actually gotten lower over the last couple of years, and we intend to keep lowering it.

“(We’re) very cognizant of the fact that we live in a conservative community that cares about where their pennies and nickels and dimes go,” he said.

We urge voters with questions about Tyler ISD’s bond proposal to contact the district to ensure they make an informed decision in May — regardless of what’s printed in black and white.

Information about Tyler ISD’s bond package also can be found at www.tylerisd.org/page/bond-2022 .