Lamar CISD’s property value growth expected to increase to 4.5% for 2026-27 school year

“With us moving our start budget from September 1 to July 1, that debt payment is carried over into the next budget,” Buchanan said. “That's why we have to have such a large fund balance ending the year to be able to make that debt payment because we don't start collecting taxes again until October.”

Also of note

Buchanan said officials are considering two potential tax rates for the 2026-27 school year: $1.14 and $1.15, with the average home value at $424,065.

At $1.14, the yearly tax bill for homeowners would be $33.52 less than the 2025-26 school year, and at $1.15, homeowners would see a $5.11 decrease to their tax bill.

Buchanan explained that raising the tax rate by a single cent could go a long way to helping LCISD achieve its long-term financial goals.

“It's a small adjustment, but what we're doing is taking that penny and putting it back to our debt service, I&S tax rate, our total tax rate would again decrease, but it would allow us to raise more money for our I&S and pay off our debt earlier and retire that debt sooner,” Buchanan said.

Zooming out

Buchanan also shared results from a survey conducted by the Texas Association of School Business Officials, where 244 districts in the state were polled.

Of those 244, 80% said they will be making significant or minor cuts for the 2026-27 fiscal year, and 20% said they will be making no cuts.

The survey determined that the most prevalent cost-saving measures for other districts are eliminating underenrolled classes and reducing campus and central office staff.

Next steps

A public hearing on the proposed general fund, debt services and child nutrition budgets will be held June 9 before the board votes on those items, along with the general pay increase for staff/compensation plan.

Meanwhile, the public hearing and vote on the proposed tax rate will take place at the August board meeting.