Lago Vista ISD keeps debt tax at 32 cents to repay bonds early

The Lago Vista Independent School District board voted 7-0 on Aug. 31, 2026, to let officials use up to $5,000,000 to pay off some school bonds early.^1,2 The district's finance chief, Jason Stoner, told the board that a debt tax rate covering only next year's bond payments would be about 11 cents lower.³ On the average home, that is about $290 a year.^3,4 He said early payoffs since about 2021 have saved the district "millions of dollars in interest," but no record we reviewed gives a figure.⁵ The order says only that the money comes from "lawfully available funds."²

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A two-host briefing. The voices are AI generated. Read the transcript.

A long paper chain of yellow and navy loops curves across a worn wooden classroom desk. A short run of loops sits sealed in a glass jar with a brass padlock, beside a stack of notebooks. AI illustration, not a real scene from Lago Vista. — A paper chain with a few links locked in a jar. AI illustration. Image credits.

Percentages and per-home amounts in this story are our calculations from the cited records. Tax rates are per $100 of taxable value, which is a property's value after exemptions.

What defeasance means

Defeasance means setting money aside to pay off bonds, which ends the bondholders' claim on the money pledged to repay them.⁶ Under Texas law, a deposit that covers a bond's payment counts as a firm arrangement to pay it off.⁷ The money goes into an escrow account, a fund held for one purpose only, typically to pay the bonds.⁶ The decision belongs to the district's seven elected trustees, and each holds a numbered seat called a place.^8,9 State law says the board may act only by majority vote at a meeting held under the state's open meetings law.¹⁰ The district's property tax has two parts, a rate for maintenance and operations and a rate to pay bonded debt, according to its notice of the proposed 2026-27 tax rate.⁴ The board set this year's tax rate the same night it voted on the payoff.¹

How the item reached the board

Superintendent Dr. Mindy Curran signed the meeting notice on Aug. 25, 2026. It called a public hearing and a special meeting of the Board of Trustees for 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, at Lago Vista High School.²

The second of its seven items asked the board to adopt an "Order Authorizing the Defeasance and Redemption of Certain Outstanding Obligations of the District" and related provisions. The packet for the meeting held the draft order and a draft escrow agreement with the bank.²

The Aug. 31 meeting

Kevin Walker, the board president, called the meeting to order at 6 p.m.^1,9 The minutes list all seven trustees and Dr. Curran at the meeting. The board took up the bond order before the public hearing on the tax rate.¹

The chair asked Stoner, the district's chief of finance and operations, for an overview.^1,5 Stoner said the district has paid off bonds early since about 2021, using extra money in its debt account. He said that after the last legislative session, the payoff needed the votes of five of the seven trustees.⁵

Stoner said a debt rate that covered only next year's payments would drop about 11 cents, taking the total rate from $1.0169 to about 90 cents.³ He said he "would be super hesitant" to do that. He pointed to a budget deficit of nearly $1 million and to technology and heating and air conditioning problems. He also said a new campus will come at some point, though when and where is not decided.¹¹ He said about $4.2 million is budgeted for the payoff, and the $5,000,000 cap "just gives us some flexibility" if tax collections run higher.¹²

Lago Vista ISD board meeting, August 31, 2026, from 2:52 to 3:26 in the school district's video. Jason Stoner speaks. Trimmed only at the start and end. Watch the full meeting from this moment. Video credits.

A speaker at the board table, whom the video does not identify, asked Stoner to confirm that debt money and operating money cannot legally be mixed. The speaker said paying off debt faster saves taxpayers a "considerable amount of money," and Stoner said the savings had been in the millions.¹³

The chair reminded the board that the order needed five of seven votes.¹⁴ Sara Jane Cantwell, who holds Place 1, moved that the board adopt the order "as presented." Rich Raley, who holds Place 4, seconded.^1,9 The board voted by a show of hands, and the chair announced the result as 7-0.¹⁴

Lago Vista ISD board meeting, August 31, 2026, from 5:34 to 6:16 in the school district's video. The motion and the vote. Trimmed only at the start and end. Watch the full meeting from this moment. Video credits.

Walker of Place 7, Vice President Isai Arredondo of Place 3, and Secretary David Scott of Place 6 voted yes. Michele Coronis of Place 2, Brian Caller of Place 5, Cantwell, and Raley also voted yes.^1,9

Later that night, the board adopted the 2026-27 budget 7-0 on a motion by Cantwell, seconded by Scott. Scott moved and Coronis seconded a tax rate of $1.0169, and it also passed 7-0.¹ The tax rate order in the meeting packet sets $0.32 of that rate for paying principal and interest on debts.² The district's notice shows the debt rate was also $0.32 last year.⁴

What the order does

The order lets an "Authorized Representative" set the size of the deposit, up to $5,000,000. That term covers the board's president, vice president, and secretary, the superintendent, and the district's finance officials or their designees.² The cap is about 8% of the $59,250,000 in bond principal listed in the district's tax notice.⁴ The deposit goes to a bank the order names as "UMB Bank, N.A.," or another qualified entity those officials choose, on or before Aug. 31, 2027. The same officials may pick which bonds to pay off.²

Exhibit A, a list attached to the order, names six series of bonds, from Series 1999 to Series 2022.² A series is a group of bonds that share the same pledge of repayment and other basic features.⁶ All six are unlimited tax bonds, which are repaid from property taxes with no legal limit on the rate or amount.^2,6 The exhibit gives no dollar amounts for any series.²

Some bonds are callable, which means the district may repay them before their due dates.⁶ The order calls for early repayment of any chosen bonds that allow it. The board's choice becomes irrevocable, meaning it cannot be undone, once the district transfers the money.²

The order says the bank would keep the money in a "special escrow fund." The order lets the district hire accountants to verify that the deposit is enough. It also approves paying the fees of the financial advisor, bond counsel, the bank, and others from "lawfully available District funds." Those fees are not counted when checking the deposit against the limit.²

What it means for you

The district's tax notice says its debt tax pays for "bonded indebtedness on construction, equipment, or both." The notice adds that the voters of the district approved the bonds and the tax rate needed to pay them.⁴ Texas law defines debt service as the property tax money a taxing unit spends to pay principal and interest on its debts.¹⁵ These bonds are the school district's debt, which our earlier story on city debt explained is separate from the city's.⁴

When a bond is repaid early, its holder gets the principal and the interest owed up to that date. In some cases the holder also gets an extra amount called a redemption premium, according to a glossary by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.⁶

State tax law figures the current debt rate from the year's debt service, divided by taxable value and the share of taxes collected. Smaller debt payments in later years could allow a lower debt rate.¹⁵ On the other hand, the Government Finance Officers Association says governments should keep enough fund balance, or savings, to handle risks such as revenue shortfalls and unexpected costs.¹⁶

The district's notice proposed a total tax rate of $1.0169, with $0.32 for debt and $0.6969 for operations. The notice put the average home's taxable value at $263,384 and its school tax bill at $2,678.35. At that value, each $0.01 of debt rate comes to about $26 a year. The $0.32 debt rate comes to about $843 a year on that home.⁴

The notice shows $4,503,002 in the Interest & Sinking Fund, the fund that debt tax money goes into. It also shows $7,741,227 in the maintenance and operations fund. Both are estimated balances at the end of the fiscal year, and the notice says they are not tied to a debt obligation. The notice also says a school district may not raise its maintenance and operations tax rate to build a surplus for paying debt service.⁴

The adopted 2026-27 budget lists $10,331,100 for debt service.¹⁷ The notice says budgeted debt service is down 5.16% from last year. The records we reviewed do not say how paying off bonds early would change the $0.32 debt rate in later years.⁴

Where it stands

The order gives district officials until Aug. 31, 2027, to make the deposit, and the records we reviewed do not show that it has been made.²

What we could not find

Which fund will pay the deposit, since the order says only "lawfully available funds."²
How much money will be deposited and which bonds will be paid off, since Exhibit A lists no amounts.²
What this year's payoff saves in interest, and what past payoffs saved. Stoner said millions but gave no figure.¹³
The signed order, the signed escrow agreement, and any report that checks the deposit is enough. The packet copies have blank signature lines.²
Who the district's financial advisor and bond counsel are. The order refers to both but names neither.²
Whether the deposit has been made, and how much the fees paid outside the $5,000,000 cap will be.²

What you can do

Read the order and minutes on the district's board agendas page.
Ask the superintendent's office for the signed order, the signed escrow agreement, the final Exhibit A with amounts, any report that checks the deposit, and the fee bills. The Texas Public Information Act makes completed reports and records of public spending public information.¹⁸
Speak at a board meeting. The Aug. 31 notice said speakers sign up in person between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the day of the meeting.²

If you have records on this, you can share them with us at /share-records. We protect your identity and publish the evidence when we can do so safely.

Podcast transcript

Read the transcript

Host 1. This is the Lago Vista Watchdog briefing. The two voices you are hearing are AI generated. Every fact in this episode is sourced in the full story on our website, and a person validates each story before it is published.

Host 2. Here is the bottom line. The Lago Vista Independent School District board voted 7 to 0 on August 31, 2026, to let officials use up to 5 million dollars to pay off some school bonds early. The district's finance chief, Jason Stoner, told the board that a debt tax rate covering only next year's bond payments would be about 11 cents lower. On the average home, that is about 290 dollars a year, by our calculation.

Host 1. Stoner said early payoffs since about 2021 have saved the district millions of dollars in interest, but no record we reviewed gives a figure. The order says only that the money comes from lawfully available funds.

Host 2. Now a quick guide. Defeasance means setting money aside to pay off bonds, which ends the bondholders' claim on the money pledged to repay them. Under Texas law, a deposit that covers a bond's payment counts as a firm arrangement to pay it off. The money goes into an escrow account, a fund held for one purpose only, typically to pay the bonds.

Host 1. The decision belongs to the district's seven elected trustees, and each holds a numbered seat called a place. State law says the board may act only by majority vote at a meeting held under the state's open meetings law. The district's property tax has two parts, a rate for maintenance and operations and a rate to pay bonded debt. The board set this year's tax rate the same night it voted on the payoff.

Host 2. Now, in order, here is how it happened. Superintendent Dr. Mindy Curran signed the meeting notice on August 25, 2026. It called a public hearing and a special meeting of the Board of Trustees for 6 p.m. on Monday, August 31, at Lago Vista High School.

Host 1. The second of its seven items asked the board to adopt an order authorizing the defeasance and redemption of certain outstanding obligations of the district, and related provisions. The packet held the draft order and a draft escrow agreement with the bank.

Host 2. Kevin Walker, the board president, called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. The minutes list all seven trustees and Doctor Curran at the meeting. The board took up the bond order before the public hearing on the tax rate.

Host 1. The chair asked Stoner, the district's chief of finance and operations, for an overview. Stoner said the district has paid off bonds early since about 2021, using extra money in its debt account. He said that after the last legislative session, the payoff needed the votes of five of the seven trustees.

Host 2. Stoner said a debt rate that covered only next year's payments would drop about 11 cents, taking the total rate down to about 90 cents. He said he would be super hesitant to do that. He pointed to a budget deficit of nearly 1 million dollars and to technology and heating and air conditioning problems. He also said a new campus will come at some point, though when and where is not decided.

Host 1. He said about 4.2 million dollars is budgeted for the payoff, and the 5 million dollar cap just gives some flexibility if tax collections run higher. A speaker at the board table, whom the video does not identify, asked Stoner to confirm that debt money and operating money cannot legally be mixed.

Host 2. The speaker said paying off debt faster saves taxpayers a considerable amount of money, and Stoner said the savings had been in the millions. The chair reminded the board that the order needed five of seven votes.

Host 1. Sara Jane Cantwell, who holds Place 1, moved that the board adopt the order as presented. Rich Raley, who holds Place 4, seconded. The board voted by a show of hands, and the chair announced the result as 7 to 0.

Host 2. The minutes record Walker of Place 7, Vice President Isai Arredondo of Place 3, and Secretary David Scott of Place 6 voting yes. Michele Coronis of Place 2, Brian Caller of Place 5, Cantwell, and Raley also voted yes.

Host 1. Later that night, the board adopted the 2026-27 budget 7 to 0, on a motion by Cantwell, seconded by Scott. Scott moved and Coronis seconded a tax rate of 1.0169 dollars, and it also passed 7 to 0. The tax rate order in the meeting packet sets 32 cents of that rate for paying principal and interest on debts. The district's notice shows the debt rate was also 32 cents last year.

Host 2. Here is what the order does. It lets an authorized representative set the size of the deposit, up to 5 million dollars. That term covers the board's president, vice president, and secretary, the superintendent, and the district's finance officials or their designees. The cap is about 8 percent of the 59,250,000 dollars in bond principal listed in the district's tax notice, by our calculation.

Host 1. The deposit goes to a bank the order names, or another qualified entity those officials choose, on or before August 31, 2027. The same officials may pick which bonds to pay off. A list attached to the order names six series of bonds, from Series 1999 to Series 2022, and gives no dollar amounts for any series.

Host 2. All six are unlimited tax bonds, which are repaid from property taxes with no legal limit on the rate or amount. The order calls for early repayment of any chosen bonds that allow it. The board's choice becomes irrevocable, meaning it cannot be undone, once the district transfers the money.

Host 1. The order says the bank would keep the money in a special escrow fund. It lets the district hire accountants to verify that the deposit is enough. It also approves paying the fees of the financial advisor, bond counsel, the bank, and others from lawfully available District funds. Those fees are not counted when checking the deposit against the limit.

Host 2. What does it mean for you? The district's tax notice says its debt tax pays for bonded indebtedness on construction, equipment, or both, and that voters approved the bonds and the tax rate needed to pay them. Texas law defines debt service as the property tax money a taxing unit spends to pay principal and interest on its debts.

Host 1. When a bond is repaid early, its holder gets the principal and the interest owed up to that date. In some cases the holder also gets an extra amount called a redemption premium, according to a glossary by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Host 2. State tax law figures the current debt rate from the year's debt service, divided by taxable value and the share of taxes collected. Smaller debt payments in later years could allow a lower debt rate. On the other hand, the Government Finance Officers Association says governments should keep enough fund balance, or savings, to handle risks such as revenue shortfalls and unexpected costs.

Host 1. The district's notice proposed a total tax rate of 1.0169 dollars per 100 dollars of taxable value, with 0.32 dollars for debt and 0.6969 dollars for operations.

Host 2. The notice put the average home's taxable value at 263,384 dollars and its school tax bill at 2,678.35 dollars. At that value, each one cent of debt rate comes to about 26 dollars a year. The 32 cent debt rate comes to about 843 dollars a year on that home. Those are our calculations.

Host 1. The notice shows 4,503,002 dollars in the Interest and Sinking Fund, the fund that debt tax money goes into. It also shows 7,741,227 dollars in the maintenance and operations fund. Both are estimated balances, and the notice says they are not tied to a debt obligation. The notice also says a school district may not raise its maintenance and operations tax rate to build a surplus for paying debt service.

Host 2. The adopted 2026-27 budget lists 10,331,100 dollars for debt service. The notice says budgeted debt service is down 5.16 percent from last year. The records we reviewed do not say how paying off bonds early would change the 32 cent debt rate in later years.

Host 1. Where does it stand? The order gives district officials until August 31, 2027, to make the deposit, and the records we reviewed do not show that it has been made. We could not find which fund will pay, how much will be deposited, which bonds will be paid off, or what this year's payoff saves in interest. You can ask the district for the signed order, the signed escrow agreement, and the fee bills in a Texas Public Information Act request. Read the full story at Lago Vista Watchdog.

Sources and documents

Every fact in this story comes from the records below. The small numbers in the story point to them. Links go to the exact moment in the meeting video or the page in the document.

See something wrong? Request a correction. Have records on this? Share them with us.