Good news for Denton residents.

By Britney Tabor / Staff Writer

 The tax rate for property owners in the Denton school district will remain the same for the 2009-10 fiscal year, despite an anticipated deficit in debt service expenditures.

Denton school trustees unanimously approved a tax rate of $1.49 per $100 valuation at a board meeting Tuesday night. The rate for maintenance and operations will remain at the state cap of $1.04 per $100 valuation while debt service will remain at 45 cents per $100.

Superintendent Ray Braswell said keeping the tax rate unchanged was not easy. The district, he said, wrestled with how to make up a deficit on the debt service side of the budget. 

According to the recommended budget presented to trustees in June, district officials indicated that overall revenue for the debt service fund decreased by more than $1.15 million from the 2008-09 fiscal year to 2009-10.

Braswell attributed the decline to a decrease in taxable property value across the district.

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The report indicated that about $1.14 million could be used from the district’s debt service fund balance — a savings it carries from year to year — to make up the deficit.

Braswell said the district could have raised the tax rate on the debt service side as high as 50 cents but since passing its last bond sale, Denton has tried to keep the rate unchanged. It was decided the deficit would be made up through reserves and an increase not be passed along to taxpayers, he said.

He said the district could have raised the rate, but because of the tough economic times, “we needed to hold the line for as much as we could.”

For the owner of a $100,000 home, the cost for the new school tax bill equates to a $1,490 payment for the year.

Board President Jim Alexander and trustee Rudy Rodriguez commended the district’s conservative approach to the budget.

“We have worked hard to hold the line on taxes,” Alexander said.

School board members in June unanimously adopted a balanced budget with operating expenses of more than $193.8 million. The district’s fiscal year started July 1.

BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com.