The Austin ISD board of trustees unanimously approved a nearly $1.2 billion budget for the district’s 2015-16 fiscal year Aug. 31.

Of the nearly $1.2 billion, which is split into three funds, general fund expenditures total about $1 billion. Debt service fund expenditures total $109 million, and food service fund expenditures total $40.8 million, according to budget documents.

Within the budget is a 3 percent salary increase for all AISD full-time and part-time employees. The salary increases will cost the district
$14.7 million.

During the public comment period at the start of the Aug. 31 meeting, Steve Coyle, a truck driver for the AISD Science and Health Resource Center, thanked trustees for the 3 percent increase because classified staff have not felt valued for years, he said.

Because AISD is considered a property-wealthy district by the state, the district will be paying about $272.8 million of its $1 billion general fund to the state as part of the state’s recapture mandate. So the net general fund budget, after the recapture payment is made, is $728.9 million, a decrease of $2 million compared with fiscal year 2014-15.

When discussing how to plan for the fiscal year 2016-17 budget, trustee Edmund Gordon said there are still local issues to be highlighted, including the cost of living in Austin and the salaries AISD teachers are being paid in relation to teachers in other Central Texas school districts.

“The problem is that schoolchildren [are] not a high enough priority for the state, for our state legislators or the powers that be,” Gordon said.

AISD’s 2015-16 tax rate was effectively $1.202 per $100 of valuation after the budget was approved. The official new rate is a 2 cent decrease from the prior year. More details are available at www.austinisd.org.