Posted: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 06:50 AM - 13,134 Readers

By: Melissa B. Taboada

Voters approved bond proposals in two Travis County school districts on Tuesday.

Despite a growing opposition in the weeks before the election, the $158 million Lake Travis school bond - which would pay for two new schools and renovate others - passed with 58 percent of the vote, 3,659 to 2,675, with all precincts counted.

Supporters said the bond was needed to keep up with the growth expected for the 7,000-student district.

"Approval of this bond was critical to the long-term vitality of our exemplary Lake Travis community," school board President Jason Buddin said. "We applaud our voters, whose support clearly indicates this was indeed the right-sized bond at the right time."

Opponents had said the bond proposal was too large and said plans for future schools and expansions aren't compatible with enrollment projections. Members of the opposition group also said that Lake Travis has the highest overall debt amount from districts in Central Texas and that the district's technology spending is four times that of other school districts.

The district's tax rate will increase to $1.40 per $100 of property valuation. The owner of an average-value home of $284,196, after exemptions - which include the district's 20 percent exemption addition to the state's $15,000 homestead exemption - would pay $3,978.74, up $239 from the current annual bill.

In Lago Vista, a $29.6 million bond for a new high school passed with 67 percent of the vote, 1,177 to 574.

Officials with the 1,330-student district said the campus is needed to handle a boom among middle school students. The district's middle and high school students currently share cafeteria, library and gym space.

The district's plans include the current high school becoming the middle school campus. The new high school would have capacity for 600 students with the possibility of expanding to 1,200. The vacant middle school may be used for prekindergarten and kindergarten students or as a fifth-grade campus.

The tax rate will increase 14 cents to $1.32 per $100 of property valuation. The tax bill on the average-value home of $175,151, after exemptions, will increase $245 to about $2,312 annually.