Story updated 10:23 a.m. Aug. 22 On Aug. 19, Georgetown ISD trustees voted to adopt a lower tax rate in the 2019-20 tax year. The board voted unanimously to adopt a tax rate of $1.339 per $100 in valuation. The rate will be down seven cents from 2018-19, when it was $1.409 per $100 of taxable value. The new rate is comprised of $1.01 for general operating and $0.329 for debt service. The maintenance and operations tax rate has been lowered from $1.08 to $1.01, and the debt service rate remains the same as last year, district officials said. The reduction is a result of House Bill 3, the school finance reform legislation Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in June. GISD Chief Financial Officer Pam Sanchez said new guidelines changed how tax rates are calculated. For example, GISD was required to reduce its Tier One rate to 93% of the previous year's rate. GISD went from $1 to $0.93 which resulted in the $0.07 decrease, she said. The M&O rate was determined by the difference of 2018 GISD M&O rate of $1.08 and the 2018 GISD Tier One rate of $1, Sanchez said. The board unanimously adopted the 2019-20 fiscal year budget June 27. The general fund is balanced with nearly $125.39 million allocated to both revenue and expenditures. Total revenue—which includes the general, food service and debt service funds—equaled about $166.41 million, with expenditures at about $160.98 million.