Georgetown ISD officials expect increase in recapture payments

Projections show an increase in recapture payments Georgetown ISD will have to pay to the state this year, although the exact dollar amount remains unclear.

During a workshop with the GISD board of trustees Jan. 10, Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hanna presented figures showing an estimated $52 million in recapture payments to the state—$7.5 million more than what the district had allocated for in the fiscal year 2022-23 budget. She said the increase was based off GISD’s increase in revenues and lower average daily attendance.

“That number might move up or down,” Hanna said. “It might move down if we have more students, which we think we probably will, but we’ll be somewhere in between.”

Meanwhile, board members were happy to see a change in the district’s projected shortfall for FY 2022-23. Estimated revenues for the year decreased by approximately $3 million, while expenditures dropped by around $6.9 million. With an additional $5.4 million from land sold in 2022, GISD is expecting a funding deficit of $608,000, rather than $4.4 million.

The district is in the process of developing the FY 2023-24 budget, and Superintendent Fred Brent said he expects a larger shortfall next year that the district will need to accommodate for.

“Just because we had the land sale, that’s a temporary fix,” he said. “That’s not going to be back next year, so we’re still looking at a potential $6 million deficit budget going into next year and how we are going to make reductions. What’s going to alleviate that deficit is continued growth in student enrollment.”

Other potential revenue sources for GISD’s budget next fiscal year include an adjustment to the basic allotment by the Texas Legislature, a change in the state’s funding formula, an increase in facility rental fees and growth in investment earnings.

“Many of these items we really have no control over as a district,” Hanna said. “We just have to stay abreast of the current happenings and try to react as quickly and as practically as we can.”