The Lingleville ISD School Board accepted a lower tax rate and reported a perfect FIRST score in a special meeting Thursday, Aug. 27 in the Jr. High School Library.
Superintendent DeeCee McDougal presented a proposed tax rate of $.86030 per $100 valuation which is lower than the 2025-26 rate of $.88640. Although the rate is lower, the new rate will raise more taxes because of the increase in appraised values.
Of the 2026-27 rate, $.61280 will go to a maintenance and operations (decreased from $.61840 last year) while interest and sinking will remain at $.24750 for “accelerating the repayment of the District’s outstanding indebtedness and establishing and maintaining reasonable debt service reserves.” A resolution was unanimously accepted by boardmembers to that effect as required by SB1453 addressing the debt service rate. (Boardmember Jay Procter was absent.) The I&S rate will go in part toward the repayment of the school's 2010 bond.
The board was presented a balanced budget based on this tax rate and both were unanimously approved by those present. McDougal reported small increases in extra and cocurricular activities, instruction, counseling and staff salaries and a decrease in the school leadership budget.
The board also unanimously approved amendments to the 2025-26 budget, moving finances from items with extra funds to items with unexpected expenses.
McDougal also reported the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) rating for Lingleville was an A Superior Grade of 100 for the second year in a row.
The board unanimously approved insurance policies for the 2026-27 school year which reportedly had an overall increase of $14,000 and was still "markedly lower" than the insurance provider the school had before.