Liberty Hill ISD 2024 School Funding Election

Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs

  • The state has not increased the core unit of education funding — known as the Basic Allotment — since 2019.

    Additionally, the State has reduced a funding stream specifically for fast-growing districts such as LHISD, and a key federal funding program is expiring.

    At the same time, growth and inflation have driven costs higher. In recent years, LHISD has weathered cost increases of 83% for utilities, 176% for fuel, and 172% for insurance.

  • In response to budget limitations, Liberty Hill ISD has implemented several cost-saving initiatives — reducing expenditures by more than $2 million.

    These decreases have come from the following areas / actions:

    • Staff reallocation

    • Frozen positions and reductions in staff in Central Administration

    • Frozen Teacher pay Increases

    • Revised staffing formulas

    • Increased class sizes

    • Reduced campus budget

    • Reduced department budgets

    The School Funding Election seeks to prevent further cuts, including those that could reduce the teacher workforce by 10 percent — or potentially impact instructional and extracurricular programs.

  • If the School Funding Election passes, the new funding will be available to serve students during the current fiscal year.

  • Funds from the School Funding Election will be used exclusively to fund the LHISD Maintenance & Operations (M&O) budget.

    This budget includes teacher employee salaries and benefits; student educational resources; classroom supplies and equipment; and contracted services, such as utilities, insurance, legal and audit services.

    The LHISD community has voted for bond initiatives that can only be used for construction and capital expenses (land, new schools, playgrounds, etc.). By law, those bond initiatives cannot fund M&O expenses.

Voting FAQs

  • To register to vote in Williamson County, visit https://www.wilcotx.gov/294/Voter-Registration.

    Learn more about voting in Williamson County, Texas, by visiting https://www.wilcotx.gov/185/Elections.

  • To find a polling location near you, visit https://apps.wilco.org/elections/pollinglocator/getlocation.aspx.

    A full list of locations and available times will be listed on this webpage when it is made available from the Williamson County Elections Department.

  • If approved by voters, Proposition A would provide additional funding for educator compensation. Higher teacher salaries will help the district retain and attract quality teachers in a highly competitive marketplace.

    Funding from Proposition A would also help maintain instructional and extracurricular programs.

  • If the vote fails, the existing quality of education and student services could be impacted.

    If not approved, the district will implement additional cost-saving measures, which could result in an up-to 10% reduction in staff, larger class sizes, and the elimination of instructional and extracurricular programs.

  • If approved by voters, Proposition B would authorize LHISD to make payments to the state that are required by law as part of the recapture system.

    The district would make those payments by purchasing “attendance credits.”

  • If the vote fails, the Texas Education Agency will identify properties within LHISD to detach for property-tax purposes.

    The owners of those properties would still pay property taxes, but their taxes would go to a different school district rather than Liberty Hill ISD.

    Additionally, the district’s total tax base would shrink, and this could cause debt capacity issues for the bonds the voters have already approved.

Tax FAQs

  • If approved, the School Funding Election will increase the property tax rate for Liberty Hill ISD homeowners and/or businesses to $1.2269 per $100 valuation.

    Approval of Proposition A would increase the monthly tax payment on the median home in LHISD (valued at $462,264) by approximately $18 per month.

    However, with passage of the School Funding Election, the property tax rate would still remain 31 cents lower than it was in 2018.

    To see an estimation of taxes based on your assessed property value, visit our calculator page here. You will need to procure your assessed value data from the Williamson County Appraisal District for a more-accurate estimate.

  • Public school taxes involve two figures which divide the school district’s budget into two “buckets.”

    • The first is the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) budget, also known as the General Fund. This is used to pay for the day-to-day operations of a district and includes items such as salaries, utilities, food, gas, supplies, etc.

    • The second is the Interest & Sinking (I&S) budget or Debt Service. This fund is used to repay debt for capital improvements approved by voters through bond elections. This fund is similar to a mortgage or home improvement loan.

    By law, I&S funds cannot be used for the M&O budget, which means voter-approved bonds cannot be used to increase salaries or to pay for rising costs of utilities or services.

    For a detailed breakdown, please visit the LHISD Budget Basics webpage here.

  • Property owners may qualify for a general residence homestead exemption, for the applicable portion of that tax year, immediately upon owning and occupying the property as their principal residence, if the preceding owner did not receive the exemption that tax year.

    Requirements are a Texas issued Driver License or Identification card showing your current physical address.

    Exemptions:

    • General Residence Homestead Exemption

    • Over 65 Exemption

    • 100% Disabled Veteran Exemption

    • Disabled Person Exemption

    To learn more about homestead exemption in Williamson County, visit their exemption webpage.

  • Homeowners 65 years of age and older will see no increase in their tax rate as long as they have filed for their senior citizen homestead exemption.

    • Learn more about Williamson County homestead exemptions on their webpage.

Recapture FAQs

  • In Texas, recapture is a process that allows the state to take excess local property tax revenue from public school districts and use it to help balance the state budget and fund public education.

    For more information regarding Texas recapture laws, visit the Texas Education Agency webpage.

  • An attendance credit election is a state required, one-time election that asks voters to approve Liberty Hill ISD making its mandatory recapture payments to the state.

  • If a Texas school district does not pay its recapture amount, the state can detach property and reassign to other school district in order to pay recapture obligation.

    The owners of those properties would still pay property taxes, but their taxes would go to a different school district rather than Liberty Hill ISD.