Lewisville ISD, the primary school district serving The Colony, has adopted a 2026-27 tax rate of $1.0778 per $100 of taxable value, its lowest since 1999, even while projecting a $7.3 million operating deficit for the fiscal year.
The Cross Timbers Gazette reported Sept. 9 that the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the rate and that a district press release described it as the lowest since 1999. LISD also posted board action on the 2026-27 budget and tax rate on its district news site.
What changed in the rate
According to the Cross Timbers Gazette’s account of district information, the maintenance-and-operations portion of the rate falls by 4 cents from last year because temporary “disaster pennies” are expiring. Denton County’s May 2024 storm disaster declaration had allowed LISD to add four disaster pennies for one year; those pennies expired at the end of the prior fiscal year.
The interest-and-sinking rate, which pays existing voter-approved debt, is unchanged from the prior year, the newspaper reported.
Trustee Jenny Proznik told the Cross Timbers Gazette that the board largely adopts the maintenance-and-operations figure produced by state formulas rather than independently raising or lowering that component.
“We don’t raise [the tax rate], we don’t lower it, we simply adopt the number the state gives us,” Proznik said, according to the newspaper. “This board has no authority, whatsoever, when it comes to your local tax rate, that lies with your state legislature.”
Deficit alongside an A financial rating
LISD’s press materials, as reported by the Cross Timbers Gazette, attribute much of the $7.3 million deficit to recently approved raises and increased benefits for teachers and staff. Earlier in the budget cycle, the district also warned it could lose nearly $18 million in state funding because of projected attendance declines.
