The La Vega school board is raising the tax rate for 2010-11. But, if voters approve the full increase in an Oct. 2 election, officials vow to immediately cut that increase in half.

The La Vega Independent School District tax rate will rise 13 cents, from $1.23 to $1.36 per $100 valuation, so the district can pay on the debts from a 2009 bond issue.

The board is asking taxpayers to approve an added 13-cent increase, for a total tax rate of $1.49. But officials say they have no intention to levy those extra 13 cents.

It’s a move to change how tax revenue is divvied up and will earn the district more money from the state, said Al Bishop, La Vega ISD deputy superintendent for personnel and administration. Administrators are calling it a tax swap, and they know it’s confusing.

They are taking their message — and charts to explain it — to civic groups, and they plan two public forums in September.

The school district tax rate is actually made up of two rates, one to pay for operating the school district and the other that pays on the district’s debts.

La Vega officials want to increase the percentage of revenue coming into the operations fund, while decreasing, by the same amount, percentage spent to pay off debt.

The state rewards school districts that go to voters to increase the operations rate. Bishop said. La Vega ISD stands to get $1.8 million more from the state under the tax swap.

Officials say $900,000 of that money will go toward paying the district’s debt and the other half will go toward district operations.

Bishop said the new money could help La Vega expand its pre-kindergarten program, which has a waiting list of 50 students.

“That’s basically three classrooms of kids waiting to go to school, but we don’t have the money to pay the teachers,” he said.

The money also would go toward safety and security improvements at schools, technology upgrades and competitive salaries.

“We can’t match Waco and Midway, but we can do the best we can,” Charles Langlotz, La Vega’s assistant superintendent for finance said about salaries.

Bishop said the money also would help campuses that need to improve their state accountability ratings, such as La Vega Intermediate.

The board members set the 2010-11 tax rate at $1.49 earlier this month. They included a contingent motion that states that if the rate passes, the board will cut its debt rate by 13 cents, from 32 cents to 19 cents., leaving a total tax rate of $1.36.

With less money coming in for debt payment, La Vega will pull from its savings account to help make those payments.

Officials said it’s worth pulling from savings to maximize the amount the district can get from the state.

If the new tax rate does not win the election, the rate will be $1.36 per $100 valuation, and the school district will not get the $1.8 million from the state, Langlotz said.

“If it’s not passed, we’ll be like many school districts around the state and we’ll pass a deficit budget,” he said. “If we pass a deficit budget, there are going to have to be cuts down the road.”

wgragg@wacotrib.com

757-6901

La Vega tax rate and proposal

La Vega Independent School District is holding a tax ratification election Oct. 2. The proposed tax rate for 2010-2011 is includes a 26-cent increase. Board members attached a contingency to the rate that, if the higher operations rate passes, the board will decrease the debt service rate, for a net increase of about 13 cents. The election allows the district rearrange how it can use tax revenue, shifting more to the running of the district. The new rate would also draw an additional $1.8 million from the state. If the election does not pass, the tax rate still increases by about 13 cents.

* per $100 valuation
** LVISD trustees’ motion approved along with tax hike

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