What’s changed
NCISD’s FY 2025-26 budget—approved unanimously Aug. 18 with trustee Beth Prykryl absent—features $234.5 million in both general operating fund expenses and total revenues, according to budget documents. Total general fund revenues and expenditures for the FY 2025-26 budget represent an 8.5% increase compared to the FY 2024-25 budget.
According to budget documents, major changes in general fund expenses and revenues for the FY 2025-26 budget compared to the FY 2024-25 budget include:
- $3.9 million, or 95%, more for the development of curriculum and instructional staff
- $1 million, or 27%, more for security and monitoring services
- $1.8 million, or 22%, more for student transportation
- $20.8 million, or 14%, more in state revenue
On Aug. 18, trustees also unanimously approved a total tax rate of $1.2552 per $100 valuation for the district in FY 2025-26. The tax rate is the same as the rate adopted in FY 2024-25, according to budget documents.
This November, voters across Texas will be asked to approve larger property tax breaks for homeowners via Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 23, which were signed into law in June, as previously reported by Community Impact. SB 4 would raise the statewide homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, and SB 23 would give homeowners who are over 65 years old or have a disability a $200,000 exemption.
Because the tax cuts would be enshrined in the state constitution, voters will have the final say. Both exemptions would apply only to taxes levied by public schools.
Bill author Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, urged voters to approve the proposed tax cuts this fall, as previously reported.
“You’ve paid a lifetime of taxes already,” Bettencourt said June 16. “The state of Texas makes a massive commitment to make sure that you can stay in your home for as long as you want to, because these exemptions, once you vote for them in November, will be there for as long as you own the home. ... It’s going to be your exemption for life.”
Zooming in
NCISD’s FY 2025-26 tax rate would have dropped by about $0.03 per $100 valuation, if not for homestead exemptions rising to $140,000, Brandy Chelette, executive director of finance for NCISD, said Aug. 18.
“The state does pretty much dictate what school districts have to adopt on their tax rate,” Chelette said. “If you do not adopt what the state says that your tax rate should be, they will reduce your state funding on the other side. So if we lower our tax rate, say, a penny, they'll take ... about a million dollars of our state funding away on the state side.”
The total value of taxable property included in NCISD’s FY 2025-26 budget is $7.9 billion, which is a 1.7% decrease year over year, according to budget documents.
Looking back
NCISD’s FY 2024-25 budget included $216.2 million in both general fund expenses and revenues, according to budget documents posted on NCISD’s website. The budget was also balanced when approved.
Hannah Norton contributed to this report.
