Lake Travis - Westlake Edition | October 2022

EDUCATION Two propositions plus trustee seats on Leander ISD ballot

2022 VOTER GUIDE

ATTENDANCE CREDIT ELECTION Proposition A

VOTER APPROVAL TAX RATE ELECTION Proposition B

An ACE allows voters to authorize the district to make mandatory recapture payments back to the state.

A VATRE is triggered when a school district adopts a tax rate that exceeds the voter-approval tax rate.

BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON

meaning each trustee represents the entire district, and all LISD voters will be able to cast a ballot in each race. Recapture requirements Proposition A—the ACE—on the November election ballot asks voters to authorize the district to begin making recapture payments back to the state. “Because of the laws in Texas, we are required to repay the state—that is, we’ve entered into recapture—and the ACE is just asking the community per- mission to formally make that payment back to the state,” Johnson said. Recapture is a function of the amount a public school district receives in tax collections and how much that amount exceeds what the district is entitled to keep based on the number and type of students in the district, former Chief Financial Ocer Elaine Cogburn said in an early July interview. For the rst time in eight years, LISD will have to pay $31.2 million back to the state in recapture funds. With home property values growing 27.05% this year, this will be the district’s high- est payment in history. The district will owe recapture pay- ments every year, Director of Budget and Compliance Gina Mitschke said, because property values are continu- ing to rise. If voters approve Proposi- tion A in November, the district will have to make a recapture payment by Aug. 15, 2023. In the event the ACE fails, LISD will be subject to a detachment of terri- tory, which means the Texas Educa- tion Agency could take a portion of the district’s property value and give it to another district to make it so the dis- trict is no longer in recapture. From then on, the district would not receive any revenue from the detached property value, and it will be given to another district instead, which is irre- versible, Mitschke said. LISD would need to raise the interest and sinking tax rate to pay existing debt with a smaller tax base after a portion of territory is detached. Tax rate rami cation In August, when the LISD board of trustees adopted a property tax rate of $1.2746 it triggered a VATRE, which is

With statewide and congressio- nal races appearing at the top of the November ballot, voters in Leander ISD will also decide down-ballot races, including ve positions on the board of trustees and two other ballot items. More board seats than usual are appearing on the ballot due to a mid-term resignation last year. Addi- tionally, four of the ve races up for election have three candidates for a total of 14 candidates, four of whom are incumbents. Both propositions put before LISD voters pertain to nancial issues. The rst, the attendance credit elec- tion, deals with the district’s required recapture payment; the second, the voter-approval tax rate election, asks voters to approve a tax rate that would provide additional funding for district operations. “We urge everybody to educate themselves about these elections that are coming up,” Superintendent Bruce Gearing said. Board on the ballot Five of the seven positions on LISD’s board of trustees are on the ballot this November—the highest number of school board positions up for election in more than a decade. Each of the ve races is contested, with four of them drawing three can- didates, and incumbents are seeking re-election in four of the ve contests. LISD trustees are elected to four- year terms, and school board elections take place on the November uniform election day in even-numbered years, according to district documents. Traditionally, this would mean four seats—Places 1, 2, 6 and 7—would be up for election in 2022 after Places 3, 4 and 5 appeared on the ballot in 2020. However, the resignation of former Place 5 Trustee Jim MacKay in Septem- ber and the subsequent appointment of Sade Fashokun to the seat means that seat is also up for re-election this year. Fashokun is seeking re-election. LISD’s longest serving trustee, Aaron Johnson, who was rst elected to the board in 2011, announced in July he would not be seeking re-election. LISD trustees are elected at-large,

An ACE would:

A VATRE would:

allow the district to pay recapture by August 2023; and avoid the Texas Education Agency from implementing detachment of territory, which would reduce LISD’s overall tax base.

provide additional funding for district operations, including employees' salaries and bene ts; and generate the revenue needed for board-approved pay increases.

PASS OR FAIL Leander ISD's Proposition A and Proposition B both have nancial implications for the district. This is what would happen if each proposition passes or fails.

ACE PROP A

VATRE PROP B

PASSES

• The district will make required recapture payments. • A $31.2 million payment will be made to the state by Aug. 23.

• It will fund the approved compensation plan, including raises of 5% for teachers and 4% for all other employees. • Roughly $32 million in revenue will be accessible to the district.

FAILS

• LISD will be subject to a detachment of territory, which means the state would seize a portion of the school district’s property value permanently. • The district would need to raise the interest and sinking tax rate to pay existing debt with a smaller tax base after a portion of territory is detached.

• LISD will face an estimated $35 million budget shortfall. • This shortfall equates to 458 full-time district employees. • To make up for the de cit, LISD would have to reduce budget expenses, including potential positions and academic programs in the coming years. rising property values. A successful VATRE would raise the average homeowner’s tax bill by $453 annually, while an unsuccessful VATRE will result in a tax bill $72 more than last year’s. If approved, the VATRE could pro- vide LISD with roughly $32 million in revenue, which allows the district to fund approved salary increases and current programs. If the VATRE fails, the district’s tax rate would be $1.1846 per $100 valua- tion, with the M&O portion falling to $0.8546. Under this scenario, the dis- trict would face a $35 million budget decit, Mitschke said, which equates to funding necessary for 458 positions. Claire Shoop contributed to this report.

SOURCE: LEANDER ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Proposition B on the November ballot. The overall tax rate consists of a maintenance and operations, or M&O, tax rate of $0.9446 and an interest and sinking, or I&S, tax rate of $0.33. A VATRE requires school districts to seek voter approval to raise its M&O tax rate above its rollback rate, or rate needed to maintain existing revenue levels. LISD’s VATRE would increase the M&O tax rate while lowering the I&S rate—essentially providing the dis- trict with more funds for operations, including employee salaries, insurance and benets. Despite the scal year 2022-23 tax rate being $0.0624 lower than the FY 2021-22 rate of $1.337, the rate approved by the district this year will bring in more revenue to the district because of

LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • OCTOBER 2022