Liberty Hill ISD calls election to fund teacher raises, educational programs, help with deficit.
The Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees has scheduled a School Funding Election for November 5, 2024 in order to provide funding that would raise educator salaries while preserving instructional and extracurricular programs in the district.
Over the past six years, the Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees has reduced the property tax rate by 37 cents per $100 property valuation. Proposition A on the November ballot would add 6 cents back to the tax rate, providing funding that would allow the district to increase educator pay and maintain educational programs. The election is a response to cuts in state and federal funding, as well as population growth in Liberty Hill and inflation over the past several years.
Before the Board voted to call the election, Liberty Hill ISD Superintendent Steven Snell said, “Proposition A would make it possible for Liberty Hill ISD to give our teachers pay raises. Right now, we cannot afford raises because the state legislature has not invested the state surplus in public schools, federal funding is decreasing, and we have been facing high inflation and increasing operational costs. Prop A would generate additional funding that we could use to pay teachers more and to protect the programs that have helped Liberty Hill ISD build champions in academics, character and community.”
Liberty Hill ISD and school districts across Texas face funding shortfalls due to legislative action. For example, the state has reduced a funding stream that is specifically for fast-growing districts such as Liberty Hill ISD, and a major federal funding source is about to expire. At the same time, inflation has driven schools’ operating costs higher. From 2019 to 2023, while the state Legislature did not increase the main unit of funding education — the Basic Allotment — Liberty Hill ISD saw cost increases of 83% for utilities, 176% for fuel, and 172% for insurance.
In response, the district has reduced expenses by $2 million. Those cuts have largely included freezing staff positions. Without Proposition A, the district would face further cuts, including reductions of up to 10 percent of the district’s teaching workforce, as well as cuts impacting instruction and extracurricular activities.
Liberty Hill ISD Board President Megan Parsons said before the board vote, “This board cares deeply for this community and for education. In Liberty Hill ISD, we have continued to serve and provide for our growing student population despite the challenges of unfunded state mandates, lack of funding - even though we have seen significant inflation, and cuts in other funding, such as our fast-growth allotment. I believe Proposition A will allow Liberty Hill voters to decide whether to reward our teachers and maintain excellence in our schools, or whether we are forced to make deeper budget cuts that will impact the quality of education we offer.”
If voters approve Proposition A on November 5, the total school district tax rate will be $1.23 per $100 property valuation, which would increase the monthly tax bill on a median-value home (valued at $462,264) by $18.11. However, homeowners who have received a tax-payment freeze because they are at least 65 years old or they have a disability would see no increase in their tax payment, provided they make no substantial improvements to their home.
The Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees also called an Attendance-Credit Election for November 5. Due to property-value growth, the district will soon be required to start making payments to the state through a process known as recapture. All Texas school districts who send these required payments to the state must hold an Attendance Credit Election. Proposition B would simply authorize the district to make its required payments to the state; it would not impact the tax rate.
If voters do not approve Proposition B, the state could permanently remove some property from Liberty Hill ISD for property-tax purposes. For example, the state could require a large retail business within Liberty Hill ISD to make property-tax payments to a different school district. Even as the business grew more and more valuable, its payments would not go to Liberty Hill ISD. In other words, the responsibility of funding Liberty Hill ISD schools would be spread among a smaller number of property owners.
“Because of growth in our property values, the state is going to take money away from Liberty Hill one way or another,” Superintendent Snell said before the Board voted to call the election. “Proposition B would allow the district to make its required payment to the state. Without Prop B, the state can permanently remove property — such as large businesses — from our tax base. We want to keep Liberty Hill property values in Liberty Hill.”
For detailed information about the Liberty Hill ISD School Funding Election, Proposition A, and Proposition B, visit www.LHvotes.com.
To view the public hearing: 2024-25 budget and proposed tax rate presentation that was provided to the Board on Aug. 15, 2024, click here.
Steven Snell
Liberty Hill ISD. Building Champions in Academics, Character, and Community
Email: superintendent@libertyhill.txed.net
Website: libertyhill.txed.net
Location: 301 Forrest Street, Liberty Hill, TX, USA
Phone: 512-260-5580
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.snell.585
Twitter: @s_snell