Lake Travis ISD board members approved a $1.3159 property tax rate for the fourth consecutive year at their Aug. 25 regular meeting to fund an $81.74 million budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

The property owner of an average market value home of $380,000 in Lake Travis ISD would pay about $3,739 in school district taxes.
The new budget is $960,103 more than the $80.78 million budget for 2010-11, but it does include a $311,000 deficit.
Johnny Hill, assistant superintendent for business, financial and auxiliary services, said the district’s goal is to eliminate the deficit over the course of the fiscal year.
“We are confident that we will work really hard to make that up throughout the year,” Hill said.
Should the budget result in a realized deficit, the district would deduct the amount from its fund balance, which would lower to $23.96 million.
Payroll expenses rose by 3.7 percent to constitute the bulk of expenses at $45.25 million, or 85 percent with $28.08 million devoted to professional salaries.
The district will save $1.19 million through the attrition of 15 teaching, 13 maintenance and two transportation positions, but it will spend $963,518 on pay for nearly 17 new positions added to handle student growth and fill key roles.
Sixty-one percent of net expenditures will fund student instruction while 13.5 percent goes toward plant and maintenance operations. General administration costs amount to 4.3 percent of expenses.
“It’s a lot tighter budget than we’ve ever had. We’ve really scrubbed it and cut everything we possibly could,” Hill said.
The property tax rate of $1.3159 per $100 of assessed property value is the highest possible rate the board could set without triggering a rollback election. It comprises a $1.04 maintenance and operations rate and 27.59-cent in debt service rate.
Travis Central Appraisal District calculates that the county added $159.9 million in taxable property for the 2011-12 fiscal year for a total of $8.13 billion in total appraised value.
Board members also approved the 2011-12 District Improvement Plan at the meeting.
The improvement plan represents LTISD’s annual goals and performance objectives for the school year and focuses on student performance and other core performance functions of the district.
The 2011-12 plan features a continued focus on instructional practices, preparation for the shift to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness system and support for Professional Learning Communities and the seven-period day at Lake Travis and Hudson Bend middle schools.
It also includes continued long-range planning and financial modeling and a communication plan involving website updates, social media and dissemination of public information about the district’s $158.5 million bond election Nov. 8.