What to know
The proposed budget shortfall has decreased from $17.72 million in April to $11.92 million as of July, Chief Financial Officer Karen Garza and Director of Finance Darrin Rice said.
The preliminary budget numbers include an estimated total revenue of $700.05 million and estimated expenditures of $711.97 million, compared to the previous numbers reported by Community Impact. This was due in part to increased enrollment projections, Garza said.
“When we do our projections for [FY 20]24-25 we use [FY] 2023-24 attendance data, so now we have a possible year’s worth of attendance data to use that resulted in some additional revenue,” Garza said.
The projected FY 2024-25 tax rate in April initially saw no increase from FY 2023-24 at $0.9621 per $100 valuation; however, the most recent projection would result in a decrease of $0.152 per $100 valuation for an estimated tax rate of $0.9469 per $100 valuation. This also takes into account tax compression that will occur as a result of House Bill 3, Garza said.
“One thing worth mentioning is that our voters did approve a $0.02 [tax rate] increase with the passage of 2023 bond," Garza said, referring to the $1.9 billion bond election held last year. "At the time of the bond election, our tax rate was $0.9621; they approved it to go to $0.9821,” Garza said.
The details
Personnel additions in the budget include 147 new full-time positions, for an added $10.8 million in the FY 2024-25 budget. More than half of the personnel additions are in special education, with the student count in special education increasing from 9,680 in June to a projected 11,180 for the 2024-25 school year, according to information presented at the meeting. The total increase in expenditures for FY 2024-25 is projected to be $17.7 million.
“[There is a] tremendous financial impact on the budget unless the state does something to properly fund special education,” Garza said.
To balance the budget, the district can dip into its fund balance, which would bring the fund balance below the district’s goal for it to comprise 20% of the budget.
Looking ahead to FY 2025-26, a plan for employee raises is not yet included in projections, Garza said. The FY 2025-26 budget year has a projected $17.43 million shortfall, according to the funding formula, Garza said.
“As we begin planning ... for budget cuts for the 2025-26 year, ... we’ll bring you a menu of items in terms of what we want to cut because we want to have a plan in place in the event that the Legislature does not provide any additional funding for us,” Garza said. “ ... Our fund balance will not support another deficit budget.”
What’s next
The board will hold public hearings on Aug. 6 and on Aug. 20, when the board will vote to approve the budget.
Editor Vanessa Holt contributed to this report.
