Voters reject school district tax hike

LAKEWAY, Texas (KXAN) - The Lake Travis school district took a disappointing blow on election night. Sixty-percent of voters rejected a two cent tax hike for the Lake Travis school district.

The failed proposition would have raised the tax rate from $1.04 to $1.06 per $100 of assessed property value.

The average homeowner would have paid about $60 more annually. The district could have raked in an additional $1.2 million dollars a year for maintenance and operations not subject to recapture, also known as 'Robin Hood' which requires the district to hand over millions of dollars to the state to fund lower-income districts.

"We're disappointed that we were not able to take advantage of additional funding for our school district, " said Lake Travis ISD Spokesperson Marco Alvarado. "But at the same time we completely and wholeheartedly respect the wishes of our voters."

The district believes their fund balance, or savings account will drastically suffer without the additional funding from taxpayers. Currently, LTISD is one of only seven districts in the state to have earned an 'AA+' underlying bond rating.

It may be more difficult to get bonds to build a third middle school growth studies have shown will be needed by 2012.

"That's the power and beauty of the ballot. It sometimes delivers unwanted messages and the district is just gonna have to figure out what to do next," said Robert Salgo whose two children attend LTISD.

Salgo teamed up with six other parents over the last few months who called themselves the "Two Penny PAC." The political action committee posted a dozen signs in high traffic spots that read "Two Pennies Make Sense."

The disappointed dad spent Wednesday morning taking down the four by eight foot advertisements, writing the loss off as a sign of the economic times.

"Right now people are just not willing to endure the tax increase," said Salgo.

The district also attributed low voter turnout to the outcome. They will continue to urge local lawmakers to reform the school finance system.