Lamar CISD’s proposed property value has increased to 4.5%, building upon the April announcement that the school district would go into the 2026-27 school year with a balanced budget, Chief Financial Officer Greg Buchanan said at a May 19 meeting.
What’s new
Since the April budget presentation, Buchanan told LCISD’s board of trustees the district has received its certified preliminary property values, which showed the district’s property value growth grew from 3% to 4.5%.
Additionally, the 2026-27 school year’s total revenue is estimated to be $572.2 million, a nearly $10 million increase from what was provided last month.
Additional budgetary updates include:
- A recommended retired teacher sub pay increase of $10 a day
- A $106.5 million fund balance amount throughout next school year
- A $2.7 million deficit in the child nutrition fund budget due to rising fuel costs
Buchanan said the debt service fund balance is increasing by $82.9 million to $142.3 million, which will go toward paying back over $100 million in debt due in August.
“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.
