District approves $4 million shortfall for coming fiscal year

The Eanes ISD board of trustees unanimously approved the district's fiscal year 2014–15 budget at its June 25 meeting. The adopted budget estimates the revenue for the district at $124,673,680, an increase of nearly $4 million compared with the FY 2013–14 budget, largely because of increased property tax revenue.

The district estimates expenses for the year at $128,805,171, which includes a recapture payment of $59,951,219, resulting in a deficit of more than $4 million.

"This budget reflects months of planning and discussion on maintaining the high-quality education that our community expects but doing so efficiently and effectively," EISD Superintendent Nola Wellman said in a news release. "The uncertainty of public education funding continues to be a significant burden, but we are committed to involving the community in dialogue about how to uphold the standards of excellence in an environment of eroding resources."

Although the district will not increase its property tax rate from $1.2125 per $100 of valuation, it did approve a step increase plus $200 for teachers and a 1.5 percent increase for all other employee groups. The largest portion of the district's expenditures go toward recapture payments, but the second-biggest expense is payroll costs at $59,202,244.

EISD has operated at a deficit for the past few years. The district's fund balance has decreased from more than $39 million before the FY 2012–13 budget to an estimated $29,470,909 after the FY 2014–15 budget.