By the numbers
HISD Chief Financial Officer Billy Beattie gave trustees an overview of the proposed budget during a June 3 workshop.
According to the proposed general fund budget, the district is projecting to spend roughly $543.6 million in FY 2025-26, while taking in around $543.7 million in revenue. The district’s proposed tax rate for FY 2025-26 would remain unchanged from last year's rate of $1.1052 per $100 valuation.
Beattie noted teachers with one to two years of experience are currently slated to receive 3% on-average raises in FY 2025-26, while teachers with at least three years of experience are projected to receive 7% on-average raises.
Beattie also noted the proposed budget includes 3% on-average raises for non-teaching staff.
Additionally, the proposed budget would raise the starting salary for new teachers from $64,350 in FY 2024-25 to $66,000 in FY 2025-26, budget documents show.
Some context
Beattie said a large portion of the funding for the teacher salary increases is coming through the state's recently approved House Bill 2, which includes $2,500 raises for teachers with three to four years of experience and $5,000 raises for teachers with at least five years of experience.
The district will receive nearly $13.9 million in funding in FY 2025-26 to pay for the raises included in HB 2, budget documents show.
When factoring in other allocations, Beattie said the district will receive approximately $26.3 million in additional state funding through HB 2 in FY 2025-26. However, he noted the district will only receive about $2.3 million in funding through the bill in FY 2026-27.
Beattie said finance officials considered increasing raises non-teaching staff members would receive in FY 2025-26, but he said any additional increases now would likely result in smaller raises for non-teaching staff in the 2026-27 budget.
“The 3% [raises] help us make sure that we stay competitive with everybody ... and allow us to still have the ability to address these things next year,” Beattie said. “It's really a long-term, two-year plan.”
Stay tuned
Trustees will consider approving the proposed budget during the June 17 board meeting.
