A sample ballot for the Lampasas Independent School District Early voting for the Lampasas Independent School District’s tax ratification election continues weekdays through Sept. 21.

Early voting is being held at the human resource office in the LISD Administration Building, 207 W. Eighth St., from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

In addition, special event voting will be held Monday from 5-7 p.m. at Kline Whitis Elementary School, Tuesday from 5-7:30 p.m. at Hanna Springs Elementary School, Thursday from 5-7 p.m. at Taylor Creek Elementary School, and Sept. 17 from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the LISD Administration Building.

All registered voters — including those outside Lampasas County — who reside within LISD boundaries may participate in the TRE, which will determine the school district’s 2010-2011 fiscal year tax rate.

If voters approve the TRE, Lampasas ISD will generate about $1.7 million more revenue — including a state contribution of about $500,000 — in 2010-2011 than it otherwise would have, and the district will assess a property tax of $1.46 per $100 valuation.

That tax total would consist of a maintenance and operations rate of $1.17 — 13 cents higher than the 2009-2010 M&O rate — and an interest and sinking tax rate of $0.29 — 17 cents lower than the 2009- 2010 I&S rate.

Passage of the TRE would lower LISD’s total tax rate four cents from the 2009-2010 rate of $1.50. The election cannot remove the district’s self-imposed tax cap of $1.50 per $100 valuation.

Because property values have increased since fiscal year 2009- 2010, however, a four-cent drop in the tax rate would not decrease the overall tax bill for an LISD resident with a property of average value.

If the TRE passes, taxes will increase $78.13 for property valued at the district average of $120,676.

If voters reject the TRE, the Lampasas ISD’s overall tax rate will drop from $1.50 to $1.33. A tax rate of $1.33 will save the average taxpayer about $75 a year in school taxes compared to 2010.

In voting against a $1.46 tax rate, and against the LISD Board of Trustees’ call for a TRE, board member Ron Farr said using some of the district’s approximately $5 million discretionary fund balance and accelerating cuts of excess personnel can balance the LISD budget without a TRE.

A Texas Association of School Boards staffing survey, Farr said in an interview with the Dispatch Record, showed that LISD has about 35 positions it can cut, which Farr said will save the district about $925,000 per year once the cuts take effect.

Personnel cuts, Superintendent Randy Hoyer said, are part of a broad plan to balance the school district’s budget for the next several years. By approving the TRE, voters can help LISD maximize its revenue and state funding for as long as the current state funding formulas remain in effect, Hoyer said.

Hoyer also expressed concern about using reserves to balance the district’s budget. LISD has built up its level of reserves for several years, the superintendent said, adding that the district needs three months of emergency operating funds.

The TRE ballot will read “Tax Rate Rollback Election” and will instruct voters to vote either for or against “approving the ad valorem tax rate of $1.46 per $100 valuation in LISD for the current year, a rate that is $0.13 higher per $100 valuation than the school district rollback tax rate.”

The ballot must read that way, said Hoyer, who added that despite the wording, the TRE will not raise the LISD tax rate.

“Though the ballot reads like there will be a tax increase if voters cast ballots ‘for’ the TRE, that is not the case,” Hoyer said in an interview with the Dispatch Record. “The 13 cents refers to an increase in the M&O portion of the budget, but the I&S rate would drop 17 cents, for an overall tax reduction of 4 cents.”