Moving forward with its budget planning for 2014–15, the Austin ISD board of trustees approved district budget assumptions and staffing formulas at its Nov. 25 meeting.

The administration will use the board-approved budget assumptions to develop the baseline FY2014–15 budget, which will be presented to trustees in February. The board voted 8–1 to approve the budget assumptions and staffing formulas, with trustee Robert Schneider opposing.

Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley advised the board that it will have to call for a tax ratification election and find additional revenue eventually to help balance the budget because the district is facing shortfalls. Trustee Robert Schneider said while he thinks a TRE should be part of the solution, it is not the entire solution.

"I am very concerned about the budget assumptions in that it appears to be business as usual," he said. " I, for one, am not willing to continue to just draw money out of the fund balance, hoping that the [Legislature] or the courts are going to come and be the white knight and provide the solution that we need."

Instead, he said the district needs to develop a strategy that incorporates not only a TRE, but also more budget cuts. He suggested one cut might be the historical property tax, which provides tax exemptions for historical properties in Austin.

Conley said AISD has already identified $2.4 million in cuts to central administration costs that do not include staffing reductions.

A school district must hold a TRE to raise its maintenance and operations rate above $1.04 per $100 of property valuation, according to state law. Tax rates comprise two parts: maintenance and operations (M&O) and interest and sinking (I&S). The two rates are $1.079 and $0.163 per $100 of valuation, respectively. They combine to make up the current tax rate.

Also noted in the budget assumptions is that while enrollment in 2013–14 was at 85,531, enrollment for 2014–15 is projected at 85,094. Trustee Ann Teich said the district will have to address that decline.

"The board recognizes the need to bring in more students to increase revenue. That is something that we've been thinking about and hopefully in a short time we will be making some very concrete plans to bring students [and] their parents back in," she said.

Recruiting educators to AISD is another concern, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said. During the 2013 fiscal year, the district implemented a one-time payment to staff equivalent to a 3 percent raise. The 2014 budget's general fund includes money to maintain the raise for another year and add another 1.5 percent increase to be paid in two lump sums to regular staff.

During citizens communication, Covington Middle School teacher Jeff Jamail said he is concerned about the longevity of those increases.

"In order for these raises to become permanent, I believe y'all will need to call for a TRE," he said. "We're going to call it a teacher raise election so that the voters can decide whether we deserve a raise or not."

Carstarphen said the district needs a compensation strategy, noting she does not expect that budget cuts and a TRE are enough to remain competitive.

"We have to have the right strategy for our people," she said. "[AISD] cannot continue to pay teachers and classified staff in the way that we've been doing it and think that this is somehow going to [allow us to] keep the best people and recruit the best people."

Board President Vincent Torres said the board will continue budget discussions in December and January meetings.

Trustee Tamala Barksdale said rigorous financial planning has gotten the district this far, and she would support Schneider's suggestion of the board having a directed discussion to choose long-term reduction strategies and provide direction to the administration.

"Some difficult choices have been made by this board, and I anticipate we'll have more in the future," she said.