The Lago Vista Independent School District will keep its tax rate the same for 2010-11 despite declining property values.
The rate will remain at $1.18 per $100 of valuation, one of the lowest rates in the district, according to a presentation given by Superintendent Matt Underwood at the board of trustees’ regular meeting Monday.
Underwood said the district can keep the tax rate steady because of how the state calculates district funding.
“No matter how much your property values go up, no matter how much your property values go down, we get the same amount,” he said.
According to the presentation, the Legislature set a target amount the district should pay per pupil and regulated the property tax rate. Districts must hold an election to set a tax rate higher than $1.04 for the maintenance and operations budget. The additional 14 cents is for debt service payments, and that rate is calculated separately. However, districts can have a debt service rate higher than 50 cents.
If the district does not collect the targeted $3,669 per pupil through taxes, the state makes up the difference. LVISD also has to make payments to the state because it is considered a wealthy district when property values are divided among the number of pupils.
Trustee Mike Carr said the district is penalized for raising or lowering taxes for maintenance and operations.
“They’ve set this up so we can’t really beat the system,” he said.
Because target revenues have not fluctuated with inflation, many districts have used savings to cover deficit budgets in the hopes the formula will change. As hopes for change get bleaker, those districts have had to cut programs to balance their budget.
Assistant Superintendent Henri Gearing said LVISD is not in such a position.
“We’re not going to have a deficit budget,” she said.
The district did use savings to pay for some construction in the 2009-10 budget year, but Gearing said that was because LVISD had too much money in savings. The Texas Education Agency recommends having about three months worth of operating expenses in savings. Districts with more or less than the target amount are penalized.
In other action, the board heard a presentation from Robert Gadbois with OBR. The company will be conducting a survey to determine the district’s future facility needs. Underwood said the cost for the survey will be about $13,000.
Gadbois said the first step in the process is to send out surveys to the community. Once those are returned, he said they will create a taskforce of selected stakeholders to create a comprehensive plan.
“At the end of the rainbow, we’ve given you a management tool,” he said, that takes into account the district’s current facilities and future goals. Though a bond election may be necessary in the future, he said until the plan is finalized, that is a dirty word.
“We don’t use the B word at this stage in the process,” he said.
In fact, he said, he has talked several districts out of a bond because they weren’t planning for the right facilities.