The PfISD board of trustees heard some of those strategies at a June 16 meeting during a presentation from district staff.
PfISD Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Land walked the board through updated financial information for 2021-22 and financial estimates for the 2022-23 fiscal year. Land's presentation looked at various scenarios for voter approval tax rate elections and the impact on tax rates.
One strategy Land said that could provide some budget relief would be to initiate another tax ratification election for November.
Land forecast $258.6 million in tax revenue for the 2022-23 school year without a tax ratification election, or VATRE, and $263.2 million with a successful VATRE.
Land projected roughly $271.4 million in expenses for the next school year, which would result in a roughly $11.3 million deficit overall without a VATRE and about $7 million with a VATRE.
Included in the expenses is a substantial state recapture payment of about $17.68 million through a program commonly referred to as Robin Hood.
"It's called Robin Hood because they used to take from the richer districts and give to the poorer districts," said PfISD Superintendent Doug Killian. "But now they just take the money and keep it."
During the budget discussion, trustees agreed that a VATRE is one of the best options the district can utilize to stop the budgetary bleeding.
Additionally, Land said there are several different scenarios within a VATRE that would result in varying deficits for the district.
Those scenarios would result in a high end deficit of about $7 million for a VATRE option that brings a $0.1434 decrease in the 2022-23 tax rate from the previous year, to a projected low end deficit of $756,421 through a $0.1034 tax rate decrease from the 2021-22 school year rate.
While the low end deficit might look attractive for the district, Killian said, it is not a great option for several reasons, including the added burden it would place on taxpayers who are already experiencing sky high property valuations throughout the district.
PfISD Trustee Vernagene Mott said budget discussions will continue throughout the summer along with public hearings as district officials continue to explore measures to reduce the projected deficit.
