Dina Edgar, Bastrop ISD's chief financial officer, offered a balanced budget proposal for fiscal year 2024-25, including a tax rate of $1.06 per $100 valuation, at the school board meeting May 21. The new rate would be a decrease from the previous year’s tax rate of $1.07 per $100 valuation.

The background

Following the 88th Legislature's failure to pass a funding increase bill as well as the expiration of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, the district faced an anticipated $7.8 million budget shortfall for FY 2024-25 when it was first presented in April.

Projected increased property values and student attendance as well as a 15% reduction in spending across departments in the district helped balance the proposed budget. The budget reductions will not affect the district’s classrooms, Edgar said.

Other major budget reductions include:

• Prepaid expenditures
• Payroll offsets to grant funds
• Position freezes/changes

An anticipated $128.9 million in revenue will help pay the projected $130.9 million in expenses for FY 2024-25. An additional $1.5 million from reserve funds and $500,000 from the workers compensation fund were also used to help balance the budget, Edgar said.

“This year has been especially challenging with very difficult decisions that needed to be made,” Edgar said. “While this certainly was not a business-as-usual budget year, I feel very confident bringing forward our proposal.”

Diving deeper

The budget is based on a projected average daily attendance of 11,915—a 3.4% increase from FY 2023-24. Property value estimates also show a 9.5% increase in the district.



Looking ahead

The proposed budget awaits a public hearing and adoption in September.