The newly adopted budget is $15 million lower than the final amended $247 million budget for FY 2022-23 and will be funded by a historically low tax rate for the district, said Pam Sanchez, the district’s assistant superintendent for business services.
“This is the lowest tax rate that we’ve ever had,” LTISD board President John Aoueille said.
The breakdown
- General fund: $162.93 million
- Food service fund: $6.24 million
- Debt service fund: $63.02 million
- Tax rate: $1.074
A household at average market value can expect to pay around $5,572 in school property taxes this year, almost $600 less than in FY 2022-23.
The decrease comes in light of the state’s recently passed property tax relief plan, which compressed the district’s maintenance and operations tax rate by $0.138 and will increase the homestead exemption by $60,000 if approved by voters in November.
Property values rose by over 7% over the last school year, but the average taxable value of a household has stayed relatively stable due to the potential homestead exemption increase, Sanchez said.
The average market home value reached $1.04 million for FY 2023-24, while the average taxable value of a household was $518,802.
The specifics
This year’s $162.93 million general operating fund decreased by 10% and will receive around $18 million less in local property tax revenue than the FY 2022-23 general fund, Sanchez said.
A decrease in property taxes means the district will reduce its recapture payment to the state by around $24 million from $72 million in FY 2022-23 to $49 million this year, she said.
Almost 90% of the district’s general fund will come from local taxes as the state’s per-student funding has not increased over the last four school years.
Increases in the budget reflect a 3% pay raise for all staff members, salary adjustments and new staff positions in the general fund. Around 81% of the budget’s general fund will go toward payroll costs.
Additionally, the district’s debt service fund grew by 7.6%, corresponding with the growth in property values, and the food service fund was expanded to include a $300,000 surplus from last school year.
Also of note
Despite a $0.138 tax rate decrease from FY 2022-23, the district was required to report a 22% tax rate increase.
The 22% increase reflects the difference between this year’s adopted $1.047 tax rate versus the no-new-revenue rate of $0.8796, which is the rate that would yield LTISD the same revenue this year as in FY 2022-23 due to an increase in property values. The district noted the FY 2023-24 tax rate is $0.138 lower than the $1.2121 tax rate for FY 2022-23.
