Education
BY CHLOE YOUNG
Liberty Hill ISD will ask voters to approve an increase to the district’s tax rate for scal year 2024-25 during the Nov. 5 election. At an Aug. 15 special meeting, the LHISD board of trustees approved calling a voter- approval tax rate election, or VATRE. The election comes as the district is facing its largest budget shortfall of $7.5 million amid cuts to state and federal funding, district ocials said. The district is asking voters to approve a maintenance and operations, or M&O, tax rate of $0.7269 per $100 valuation, which is almost $0.06 higher than the FY 2023-24 tax rate of $0.6692 per $100 valuation. The district is required to get voter approval for a M&O tax rate greater than $0.6669 per $100 valuation, Chief Financial Ocer Rosanna Guerrero said. The interest and sinking, or I&S, tax rate will remain at $0.50 per $100 valuation, making for a combined tax rate of $1.2269 per $100 valuation if the VATRE passes, Guerrero said. LHISD calls tax-rate election
The breakdown
tax-rate election passes, the district would receive a $6.8 million increase in revenue and could reduce its budget shortfall to $2.9 million, accord- ing to district documents. A higher tax rate would allow the district to replenish its fund balance and provide a 2% mid- point salary raise for all sta members, Guerrero said. If the VATRE does not pass, the district’s fund balance is projected to be depleted by FY 2026-27.
If the VATRE passes, homeowners with a median home value of $462,264 could expect to pay $4,444 in school property taxes in FY 2024-25, which is an estimated $217 increase from what homeowners would pay if it does not pass, accord- ing to district information. At the Aug. 15 meeting, the board adopted the district’s $104 million general operating budget for FY 2024-25 with a $7.5 million shortfall. If the
Historical tax rates in Liberty Hill ISD Since 2018, the district’s M&O tax rate has decreased due to compression from the state as property values grow.
Tax rate per $100 valuation
Maintenance and operations
Interest and sinking
$1.54
$1.47
$1.3647
$1.36
$1.3446
$1.2269
$1.1692
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
2023-24
2024-25*
*THE FY 202425 TAX RATE MUST BE APPROVED BY VOTERS IN A NOV. 5 ELECTION.
Fiscal year
SOURCE: LIBERTY HILL ISD¡COMMUNITY IMPACT
What else?
“The last thing we want to do is raise taxes, but we’re backed into a corner, and we feel we have no [other] option.” STEVEN SNELL, LIBERTY HILL ISD SUPERINTENDENT
LHISD is projected to pay around $618,000 in recapture for FY 2024-25, Guerrero said. “The district is approaching recapture with or without the VATRE,” Superintendent Steven Snell said. If voters approve the VATRE but not the attendance credits, the state could seize district property as payment, Guerrero said.
The district will also ask voters to approve the purchase of attendance credits in November. These credits allow districts to begin paying recapture, which will be required under the higher tax rate. Recapture requires property- wealthy districts to pay the local property tax revenue they receive beyond their entitlement back to the state to be redistributed to property-poor districts.
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