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LISD to leave Place 3 open; tax rate to be voted on Aug. 27
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
Three members of the Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees were concerned that leaving Place 3 vacant would cause problems should a vote come down to a 3-3 tie.
Ironically, their solution to keep that from happening failed Monday night because of a 3-3 tie.
Place 3 was vacated by Jeff Knapp last week when he moved to a house outside LISD boundaries. Knapp said he knew his move would mean he would have to give up his seat, but he didn’t expect the process to happen so quickly.
Next, Kyer, Duke and Foughty voted to appoint former board member Tom Ferguson to Place 3. That vote also died because of a 3-3 vote.
When the motion to leave the seat vacant was brought to the table again, Kyer voted for the motion.
Ferguson, who was in the audience Monday, had decided not to run for re-election during this past May election because he was planning to move closer to his job in Waxahachie. But while Ferguson wouldn’t be in LISD throughout another three-year term, he would be living in the district through next May, when Knapp’s term was set to expire.
“This is a position the voters should fill,” McDaniel said. “The will of the people is this board sitting here now.”
Latham said she feels like the current six members work well together and that they can pull it off until May.
Others felt like it was a good opportunity to have Ferguson on the board, even though he was unable to stay for a full term.
“We need someone who knows where we’re going and where we’ve been,” Foughty said, adding that it’s important to appoint someone who has not lost an election, which he did not. “We would then have seven sets of eyes on the district. He’s ethical, hard working, and we wouldn’t have to train him. He’s ready to go.”
It is possible for the issue to be brought to the board for a vote again, either by two board members requesting it be placed on the agenda or by administrative decision.
Also Monday, the board approved the publication of a proposed budget and tax rate for the 2012-13 school year. A special meeting to approve the budget and adopt the tax rate is set for Aug. 27.
The proposed interest and sinking (I&S) tax rate is 41.3 cents per $100 valuation. This is two cents less than the tax rate for this coming year projected in the 2008 bond package approved by voters. It’s also about two cents more than this year’s rate. The maintenance and operations (M&O) rate remains the same at $1.04 per $100 valuation, making the total tax rate $1.453 per $100 valuation.
The 2012-13 budget is expected to begin with a fund balance of $128 million, which includes a $23 million shortfall.
The 2011-12 budget is being balanced by using $5.3 million from the fund balance despite officials predicting $17.5 million having to be used to accomplish that.
The 2012-13 budget includes $10 million less in state funding. In fact, state funding has decreased from $138 million in 2010-11 to $114.4 million in 2012-13.
However, the budget also highlights an increase in student enrollment, which helps mitigate the loss.
Also, taxable values have increased by 1.8 percent, or $2.2 million. There are a variety of operational cost reductions proposed.
Other components of the budget include $8.9 million in salary increases.
The projected ending fund balance is expected to be $105 million, still above its standard balance of $45 million.
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