The details
The adopted budget includes:
- A general fund with $145.9 million in revenues and $150.1 million in expenditures, resulting in a $4.2 million shortfall
- A food service fund of $6.9 million in revenues and $6.9 million in expenditures, resulting in a balanced budget
- A debt service fund with $62.7 million in revenues and $61.7 million in expenditures, resulting in a $987.3K surplus
Doing so will inject a one-time surplus of about $10 million into LTISD's fund balance by next June and better align campus and departments budgets prior to the start of school, said Chief Financial Officer Pam Sanchez said.
Taking a step back
House Bill 2, passed during the most recent Texas Legislative session, will provide LTISD with approximately $4.8 million in new funding to support legislative mandates and cover increases in goods and services due to inflation.
Some of the new funding includes:
- A $55 increase to the basic allotment, totaling $6,215
- A teacher retention allotment providing a $2,500 salary increase for teachers with three to four years of experience and $5,000 to teachers with five or more years of experience
- A support staff retention allotment
- An increase to the school safety allotment
What else?
The board also adopted the 2025-26 compensation plan and tax rate during the meeting.
Alongside the HB 2 teacher retention allotment, LTISD's compensation plan includes a 1% salary increase for librarians, teachers with one to two years of experience, and other staff depending on their midpoint pay grade.
The adopted tax rate of $1.379—consisting of $0.7122 for Maintenance & Operations and $0.3275 for Interest & Sinking—is the lowest tax rate in LTISD history, according to agenda documents.