Tax rate increase among options to help LISD

Dr. Jerry Roy, Lewisville ISD superintendent, will be on tour in the coming months.

Not to play music, but to sing the sad song of the state of school funding that is impacting LISD and other districts across Texas.

Roy has already spoken at more than 10 public meetings during the last few weeks to address the school finance crisis, and he said he plans on speaking at many more events during the remainder of the school year.

Among the topics he touches on is a decision that the board of trustees will have to make by the summer as to how the district will make up for the $18 million deficit it’s facing in the 2009-10 school year.

"Over a period of time, we have to trim that deficit down," Roy said. "We have the fund balance, which helps. But it doesn't solve the problem. People aren't going to lose their jobs, but we could have fewer people employed and people wearing more hats. At some point, we have to get the level of expenditures down to meet the level of revenue. So if we don't increase the revenue, we have to make cuts. People think we can rely on the fund balance, but we're recommended to keep our fund balance at a level of three and a half months of operation. And that's where we are."

Roy outlines three options the district has.

Option 1 would be to continue making budget cuts, something the district has already started to do. Only this time, the cuts would impact programs the district offers as well as increase class size.

Option 2 would be to have a tax ratification election for two additional cents on the Maintenance and Operations tax (M&O).

Under House Bill 1 from 2006, the M&O tax rate went down to $1, though the state allowed districts to go up to $1.17. Of that, Chapter 41 districts get four free, or “golden,” pennies that do not have to be sent back to the state. But, to go up the remaining $0.13 requires an election.

Option 2 would increase the district's M&O rate by two pennies, from $1.04 to $1.06. District spokeswoman Karen Permetti said it would generate $7 million for the district, with $3 million of that coming from the state. Fewer programs would have to be cut under this plan, Roy said, and the district would be looking at an $11 million deficit instead of an $18 million shortfall.

Option 3 would be to have a tax ratification election for the full 13 cents, moving the M&O to $1.17. Permetti said it would generate about $27.8 million, though some of it would go back to the state.

The M&O rate remained unchanged when the board adopted the rate in September for the 2009-10 year.

Roy stressed that his presentations are not to influence opinion but to give information on what the options are. However, when asked what his preference would be, Roy said the tax ratification election for more than two cents would be the most beneficial in his opinion.

"In all options short of the third option, we're dismantling things," Roy said. "If we go with the third option, we can maintain the basic program levels and the class sizes."

Roy said that if the LISD Board of Trustees opts to go with a tax ratification election, they would make the decision by next June, set the tax rate in August and have the election in September. Roy said the election would come before November since having it at the same time as other statewide elections could make the issue confusing.

He said the feeling from the public so far has been optimistic but added there are a lot more meetings ahead for him in the coming months.

"I'm trying to talk to as many people as I can," Roy said. "My mission is not to tell people how they should vote but to inform people so that if we do have an election, we'll have an informed electorate."

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