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Eanes ISD is still projecting a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall in 2026-27 and beyond, despite recently approved optimization actions to reduce this.
Chief Financial Officer Chris Scott provided the board of trustees with a budget update during the March 24 board meeting, showing that the district could still see an over $2 million shortfall next year.
Looking back
Scott first projected a $5 million-$6 million budget shortfall last fall.
In February, the board approved a series of revenue generation or cost-saving measures to be implemented next year. These include increasing local revenues by $600,000 through initiatives such as increasing transfer students and starting a virtual academy, as well as reducing 69 full-time equivalent staff positions through attrition to garner between $3.3 million-$4.5 million in savings.
In total, administration projects $3.9 million in savings for the 2026-27 budget.
The update
According to Scott, the district is still facing a few unknown scenarios that could further impact the budget, including:
What's next
The board is slated to pass the 2026-27 budget in June.
Prior to that, an additional budget update will be presented in April, at which time officials anticipate having the estimate of certified tax values from the Travis County Central Appraisal District.
"I would also not be at all shocked if we do not know what that [special education funding] model is before you have to adopt the budget in June," Scott said. "It wouldn't be at all shocking if that new model came in July, August or even later."
