Stories
All stories, page 3
65 stories, newest first. Each one traces back to the public record and was checked by a person before it ran.
October 2026
- School district pay
Lago Vista ISD freezes pay and adopts a $895,453 budget gap
The board voted to freeze 2026-27 pay and adopt a $895,453 budget gap. We trace five years of money, raises, and prices.
- Council preview
Lago Vista weighs $42,422 hotel tax advance for chamber event
On Oct. 15 the council will weigh a $42,422.20 up-front request for Brews & Balloons and a move to lift the 50% hotel tax event cap to 100%.
- School district
Lago Vista ISD keeps debt tax at 32 cents to repay bonds early
Lago Vista ISD's board voted 7-0 to put up to $5,000,000 toward early bond payoffs. Its finance chief said the debt tax could otherwise drop about 11 cents.
- Police
Lago Vista budgets $0 for a $279,000-a-year police overtime plan
The 2026-27 budget sets police overtime at $0 again. Ron Joy, then chief, said vacant jobs' pay covers the plan, which he put at $279,000 for a full year.
- Development
Lago Vista's Tessera property owners still owe $53.4 million
Tessera property owners owe $53.4 million in PID assessments, with $4.2 million due Jan. 31. City taxes are not pledged to the 2024 bonds.
- Wastewater
Lago Vista taxpayers face a $28.2 million sewer plant loan choice
Lago Vista taxpayers could take on up to $28.2 million in state loan debt for the sewer plant. The council has not voted, and the application is due Nov. 2.
- Special districts
Lago Vista Firefly Cove MUD, 1 vote OKs up to $260M owners repay
A 1-0 vote OK'd up to $260,175,000 in bonds for Lago Vista's Firefly Cove MUD. Owners' tax rate could rise from about $2.19 to between $3.11 and $3.27 per $100.
- Land use
Lago Vista water plan counts 6,455 future hookups in custom zones
Lago Vista's zoning records show 26 planned development districts. See each on a map, what it allows, and what it could cost taxpayers.
- City Council
Lago Vista debt costs $560.25 a year on a median home
Lago Vista taxpayers owe $4,387,829.71 on city debt, $560.25 a year on a median home. A post says it never falls. City records show it fell, then rose in 2024.
- Land use
Lago Vista taxpayers, former mayor's ranch case and $7,952.67 fee
Former mayor Kevin Sullivan, who speaks for Shoreline Ranch, says its map label could cost taxpayers. We checked his claims against city records.
- Police
Lago Vista residents mourn an officer and ask the city to speak
Residents are mourning a Lago Vista police officer and asking city leaders to speak. The city has not posted about the loss, and police shared a support note.
- Water
Lago Vista taxpayers pay $360,000 for lake water, could face gap
In 2023 Lago Vista cut its LCRA lake water reserve to 4,500 acre-feet. Taxpayers pay a $360,000 yearly fee, and a regional plan projects a 2040 shortfall.
- Land use
Lago Vista council backs rural label for Shoreline Ranch on map
Lago Vista's land map item lists no taxpayer cost. It puts a rural label on a ranch zoned for up to 568 homes. The minutes record the vote as 4-2.
- Wastewater
Lago Vista taxpayers, Utility Fund may pay $139,000 sewer repair
Lago Vista council ratified up to $139,000 for emergency lift station pipe repairs. Public Works identified Utility Fund money. Minutes are not yet posted.
- City Council
Lago Vista taxpayers pay $96 more after two budget cuts fail
Two plans to cut Lago Vista's budget failed Sept. 25. Taxpayers keep the $0.451988 rate, and the median home pays $1,358.06 a year in city tax.
- Comprehensive Plan
Lago Vista land use map has had eight versions since 2016
Lago Vista's land use map has had at least eight versions since 2016. See who drew each one and how the map feeds $244.2 million in utility plans.
- Economic Development Corporation
Lago Vista EDC has no budget. Taxpayers may fund its $49,360 ask
The EDC has no budget of its own. Its $49,360 request lists the General Fund as a possible source, and a founding member spoke of $10 million goals.
September 2026
- City Council
Lago Vista's City Hall fights itself, and taxpayers foot the bill
From 2021 to 2026, Lago Vista officials and the public brought 16 complaints and claims, by our count. One cost $210,291. One listed $250,000.
- Tax rates
How Lago Vista's tax rate compares with 6 Texas cities
Lago Vista's $0.451988 rate, its no-new-revenue rate, ranks second of six cities. It gets $116 a resident in sales tax and holds a 131% cushion.
- City Council
Lago Vista's General Fund reserve tripled to $16.5 million
The 2026-27 budget passed 4 to 3 at a higher tax rate. Sept. 25 motions to amend it failed. The General Fund reserve tripled from 2021 to $16,475,483 by 2025.