What happened?
Voters approved a 3-cent increase in maintenance and operation taxes that is not subject to recapture, which is property tax revenue that returns to the state.
In the last five years GCISD officials lowered the tax rate by over $0.47 per $100 valuation, Superintendent Brad Schnautz said.
“State compression allowed the [maintenance and operation] tax rate to [decrease] through time, and our board [reduced] the [interest and sinking] rate,” he said.
If GCISD’s VATRE didn’t pass in 2024, GCISD’s budget would have had to be reworked to accommodate a multimillion shortfall, with 87% of the budget affecting teachers and staff, said Nicole Lyons, GCISD’s executive director of communications.
Diving deeper
Extra revenue was needed to offset inflation, district leaders said.
The state passed House Bill 2 on June 4, which increased the basic allotment for the first time since 2019, by $55, GCISD Chief Financial Officer David Johnson said.
“The basic allotment went up a little less than 1%, versus the 20% inflation that we [have] experienced [since 2019],” Johnson said.
Sen. Brandon Creighton stated on May 22 that HB 2 aims to provide long-term budget stability for districts.
Looking ahead
The district is finding other ways of gaining revenue to deal with the increase of inflation over the past five years, district leaders said.
In January, the district formed an education master plan committee, which was composed of district staff, parents and community members, to explore ideas for saving money or generating revenue for the district, Lyons said.
“The goal [is to] discuss long-term financial sustainability and generating ideas around how we get there,” she said.
Revenue GCISD expects to receive fiscal year 2025-26:
- Sponsorship and Program Support Agreement with Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Grapevine: $200,000 annually for five-years starting Feb. 1, 2025
- Bus advertisement program: estimated $12,000-$14,500 annually until 2031
- Reimbursement grant for Texas Education Agency’s mandated school safety standards: reimbursement of up to $507,249
- Oncor rebate for chiller upgrades: one-time payment of $22,722
- Consolidating elementary schools due to declining enrollment and reusing those campuses for additional revenue, such as an early childhood center
- Expanding ASPIRE Academy, a program for highly gifted students, to a stand-alone campus to increase enrollment, which will increase basic allotment funding from the state
- Selling iUniversity Prep curriculum resources
- Strategically increasing enrollment at iUniversity Prep to add basic allotment funding from the state
- Relocating iUniversity Prep staff to a different location and selling the property that staff currently uses
