Lindale ISD Trustees Vote To Reduce Tax Rate

LINDALE — The Lindale ISD board of trustees voted unanimously to move forward with a tax cut for Lindale home and property owners. The tax cut would reduce the Interest and Sinking (I&S) rate from 41.5 cents to 39.5 cents. The I&S rate is used to pay off school construction bonds. Bond sales only affect the I&S rate. The Maintenance and Operation (M&O) tax rate of $1.06 per one hundred dollars of appraised value will remain the same.

In November 2009, the voters of LISD approved at $42 million bond that included the construction of a new junior high school, the addition of classrooms at the high school, a 1,200 seat auditorium and improvements to athletic facilities. �Due to the conservative nature of our spending in the Lindale Independent School District, proper planning and continued student growth, the board of trustees will be able to lower the tax rate,� Superintendent Stan Surratt said. The rate must be advertised locally to LISD voters before it is voted on for approval at a special school board meeting on August 29. The 2011-2012 LISD operating budget will also be considered for adoption at the meeting.

A reduction in the I&S tax rate and no change in the current M&O rate are possible despite a massive budget shortfall in the state of Texas that led to more than $4 billion in cuts to public schools. Lindale ISD�s share of the state cuts is approximately six percent of the district�s operating budget. �We need to cut about $1.5 million out of last year�s budget to balance the budget for this year,� Surratt said. �We had to reduce more because of the added expenses of maintaining our new junior high campus, classroom additions and the auditorium. We were able to make the cuts to the budget without laying off any full-time LISD employees.�

Surratt continued, �Lindale ISD Director of Finance Liz Stewart calculated the expenses related to the new facilities at just over $500,000. �We were very fortunate to recommend a tax cut to the board of trustees despite the reduction in state funds.� Surratt noted that every department and campus was asked to reduce their budgets. Travel and supply budgets in LISD received significant cuts. �We reduced and tightened our belts in every area but hopefully in a way that will have little effect on the instruction to our students,� Surratt said.