This comes as the Texas Education Agency has not yet shared guidelines for the implementation of House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 4, should the latter pass in the November election, RRISD Chief Financial Officer Dennis Covington said.
What you need to know
The budget scenario approved by trustees is the similar as what was presented in a June 3 budget workshop, but does not include estimated impacts of the new legislation to the budget in terms of additional funding.
Trustees approved $472 million in expenses, supported by $461 million in revenue, with an projected shortfall of about $11 million.
Trustees also approved a debt service budget of $106.13 million in revenue and $105.6 million in expenditures.
The details
These budgets, which are used to fund operations and pay district debts like bonds, are predicated on a total property tax rate of $0.8931 per $100 of valuation. This is made up of the $0.7101 maintenance and operations rate, which goes toward the general fund, and $0.183 interest and sinking rate, which is used for debt service. Additional funding sources include federal and state allotments, reimbursements for various services and grants.
The $11 million shortfall is a decrease from the initial $16 million projected by administrators earlier this year.
What's next
While this version of the budget is what trustees green lit in order to meet their June 30 deadline to approve an operating budget, it is not the final version.
Covington said school districts with a July 1 start to their fiscal year were directed by the TEA, and will receive guidance on the implementation of HB 2, which provides additional funding and explicitly outlines teacher raises, and SB 4, which would increase the $100,000 homestead exemption to $140,000 if approved by voters in November.
What they're saying
"TEA did not release all the budget codes as it relates to House Bill 2," Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez said. "So we have to adopt that second column with the idea that we're coming back, hopefully, with an amendment as early as August once the TEA releases all that information. At that time we're hoping to bring to you that balanced budget, maybe even a positive budget."
