Posted: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 01:27 PM - 9,372 Readers

By: Austin-American Statesman

LAKE TRAVIS SCHOOLS

Property tax rate hike rejected

Voters on Tuesday rejected a 2-cent property tax increase in the Lake Travis school district, with 59 percent voting against the measure and 41 percent voting for it.

When the school board approved its $79.5 million budget in August, board members also adopted the tax rate: $1.06 per $100 of assessed property value for maintenance and operations and $0.2759 for debt payments.

But because the district will exceed the state-imposed cap of $1.04 for maintenance and operations, a rollback election was automatically triggered, making the higher amount subject to voters' approval.

The rejected higher tax rate will roll back the rate to $1.04 for maintenance and operations. An approved higher rate would have meant that the owner of an average-value home of $298,904, after exemptions, would see a tax bill of $3,993.06. That's an increase of about $206.06, or about 6 percent more than last year.

Under state school finance law, the district will send nearly $30 million in property tax revenue to the state in the 2009-10 school year. But the district could have kept an additional $1.2 million in revenue generated from the new rate.

District officials have said that the additional revenue is needed to meet increased costs caused by inflation and increased enrollment. The district has about 6,300 students.