Amber Lasseigne, an auditor with Moak Casey, presented the findings of an efficiency audit to district officials at a Sept. 16 board of trustees meeting.
The audit comes weeks after the board voted to call its first voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, Nov. 5 as LHISD faces its largest budget shortfall for fiscal year 2024-25 and is projected to deplete its fund balance in the coming years.
Zooming out
The district is asking voters to approve a maintenance and operations, or M&O, tax rate of $0.7269 per $100 valuation, which is almost $0.06 higher than the FY 2023-24 tax rate of $0.6692 per $100 valuation. The district is required to get voter approval for a tax rate greater than $0.6669 per $100 valuation, Chief Financial Officer Rosanna Guerrero said.
If the VATRE passes, the district would see an $6.2 million increase in revenue at an additional $253 yearly cost to homeowners, which could be used for teacher raises and student programs, Lasseigne said.
Under House Bill 3—passed in 2019—Texas school districts are required to receive an efficiency audit when calling a VATRE, she said. The external audit looks at a district’s fiscal management, utilization of resources and efficiency compared to their peers, according to the presentation, and increases transparency with community members, Guerrero said.
LHISD's efficiency audit compared the district to the following peer districts:
- Aledo ISD
- Argyle ISD
- Boerne ISD
- Dripping Springs ISD
- Georgetown ISD
- Hutto ISD
- Lubbock-Cooper ISD
- Melissa ISD
- Royse City ISD
LHISD receives about $10,090 in revenue per student, including local property tax collections and state and federal funding, which is almost $600 less than its peer districts and $2,640 less than the state average, according to the audit.
The district has a lower property tax rate than its peers, some of which have already called VATREs, and fewer students in some special populations that receive additional funding, including economically disadvantaged and bilingual students, Guerrero told Community Impact.
“Even if this VATRE already passes, your district's tax rate will be almost a penny lower than your peers,” Lasseigne said.
Additionally, the district spends less on instruction, and maintenance and operations than its peers and the state while spending more on guidance and counseling, she said.
“You're spending a lot to take care of students' health and well-being outside of just the instructional lens,” Lasseigne said.
What else?
The district has a base salary for teachers at $58,494 and administrators at $89,866, which is lower than its peer districts and the state average.
At 24%, the district’s teacher turnover rate is higher than its peers and the state average of around 21%.
LHISD’s ratio of students per staff and students per teacher is similar to its peers and the state at 7.89 and 14.96 respectively, Lasseigne said.
The backstory
At an Aug. 15 meeting, the board adopted the district’s $104 million general operating budget for FY 2024-25 with a $7.5 million shortfall. The budget was adopted after making $2 million in cuts, including reallocating, freezing and reducing positions; increasing class sizes; and cutting campus and department budgets.
The district is projected to deplete its fund balance by 2026 as state funding per student has not increased since 2019 while LHISD’s tax rate has been compressed by $0.375 and operating expenses have risen, district officials said. LHISD has also seen reductions to state and federal funding.
Stay tuned
LHISD is required to post a full report on the efficiency audit to its website by Oct. 5, Guerrero said.
The full presentation is available on the district's YouTube channel, starting at 2:23.
