Thanks both to a boost in state revenue and an increase in local taxable property values, the Lamesa school district is raising its budget by about $1.2 million this year while lowering the property tax rate. School board members adopted both the budget and tax rate for 2019-2020 during a special meeting Tuesday evening. That action came after the board received no comment during a public hearing on both the budget and tax rate. “It’s a balanced budget,” Liz Poage, the school’s chief financial officer, told board members. That budget projects total revenue and spending at just over $20 million. Spending, Poage said, is increasing ...