Liberty Hill ISD officials presented projections of its budget for the upcoming fiscal year during the district’s Aug. 3 board meeting.
While the district’s general fund is estimated to be in a $9 million surplus, district documents indicatea shortfall for the district’s debt fund.
By the numbers
The district’s general fund—which pays for routine expenditures like payroll—is estimated to be in the green for the upcoming school year with revenues of less than $136 million outpacing expenditures of more than $126.9 million. Overall, the district projects a surplus of about $9 million.
More than 86% of the district’s general fund goes toward employee salaries and benefits.
Stone said that the district had restored cuts it had made earlier, including those to the district’s elementary behavior, gifted and talented and ESL bilingual programs.
“We’re very grateful for our community and their support to our district in passing the tax ratification election,” said Vallery Stone, the district’s chief financial officer. “Because of that and because of the support of our community and our school board, we remain fiscally strong as a district.”
Projections of the debt service fund indicate a shortfall. While the district forecasts total revenues to be slightly under $53.8 million, district documents show appropriations totaling at more than $56.7 million.
Breaking down the cost
The district’s combined tax rate for the upcoming school year was listed at $1.2298 per $100 valuation, a $0.0091 decrease from the last school year’s tax rate of $1.2389 per $100 valuation.
The decrease comes entirely from a lower maintenance and operations tax rate, which raises revenue for the general fund and covers the cost of routine expenses like payroll. Meanwhile, the interest and sinking rate—which raises revenue to pay off the district’s debt—remains the same as last year’s at $0.50 per $100 valuation, which is the highest a Texas school district can set its I&S rate at.
Although the combined tax rate is decreasing, increased property valuations will lead to higher bills for homeowners. The median homeowner with a homestead exemption could pay an additional $205.45 to the district for their annual tax bill.
While district officials said that previous years have seen double-digit growth in property valuation, July numbers from the Williamson County Appraisal District indicate that property values have increased by 5.5%.
Property values in the town have jumped from about $2.9 billion in 2019 to more than $9 billion this year, according to the district. As property values increase, state funding decreases, Stone said.
Another detail
Enrollment for the 2025-26 school year amounted to 10,443 students, an increase of nearly 148% from the 4,204 students enrolled for the 2018-19 school year.
District officials highlighted that maintaining high average daily attendance is one way to keep funding in the district.
Stone said that with an average daily attendance of 9,801, or about 94%, during the 2025-2026 school year, the district lost $965,917 to recapture. Had the district seen a lower average daily attendance rate of 91%, the district would have paid the state more at about $1.07 million.
“What that says is it's directly related to our students being here every day in the district,” Stone said. “The more our students are here, the less we're going to have to pay for the state. The more students we have in the district, the less we're going to have to pay for the state.”
For the upcoming school year, she said that with an average daily attendance of 10,212, the district forecasts recapture to amount to $1.31 million.
Going forward
During its next board meeting, LHISD will host a public hearing on the proposed budget and tax rate before voting to approve both items Aug. 17.
The district’s budget is set to take effect Sept. 1.
