Updated June 21, 2016 at 5:45 p.m.
The Fort Bend ISD board of trustees approved a $592.6 million operating budget for the 2016-17 school year June 20. The budget assumes a $1.32 per $100 valuation tax rate would be adopted in the fall, as was originally recommended by district staff.
FBISD Chief Financial Officer Steven Bassett said the budget was made with the expectation that no new state funding would be available next school year. He said the district could reevaluate whether the decreased tax rate—from $1.34 per $100 valuation approved for the 2015-16 school year— would be feasible in September.
“We’re really taking a cautious tone, a cautious approach with this year’s budget,” he said. “There’s a distinct possibility that the state could have less revenue in the next biennium.”
Trustee Grayle James said she was concerned about the increase in spending per student while state revenues drop. Expenditures per student from the operating budget will be $7,996 for the 2016-17 school year, compared to $7,909 for the 2015-16 school year.
Meanwhile, state revenues for the new budget will drop to $216.8 million, versus $235.9 million in the 2015-16 school year budget. Local funding will make up about 62 percent of the budget revenue and state funding will account for nearly 37 percent.
“When I started on the school board it was something like 54:46 [percent], I think,” James said. “We’re definitely not headed in the right direction on that.”
Posted June 8, 2016
Fort Bend ISD’s board of trustees received a proposed $592.6 million operating budget for the 2016-17 school year from district staff June 6. Trustees will vote on the budget at the June 20 meeting and will vote on the tax rate in September.
If approved, the budget would reflect a 2.1 percent increase from the $580.4 million budget for 2015-16. Enrollment growth of 1,033 more students, increased staffing needs and new projects, such as the opening of Sullivan Elementary School in August, are driving the budget increase, FBISD Chief Financial Officer Steven Bassett said.
Fort Bend ISD's board of trustees will vote on the 2016-17 school year budget June 20.[/caption]
“From an expenditure [perspective], we have $1.83 million for new positions,” he said. “That’s including some additional 11 positions for [career and technical education].”
The proposed budget also includes an additional $2.5 million for teacher salaries. Bassett recommended maintaining the overall tax rate of $1.34 per $100 valuation, although, the district initially proposed lowering its debt service tax rate from $0.30 to $0.28.
“The picture will look different if we have a favorable legislative session in 2017,” Bassett said. “But we planned as if we’re not getting any new money.”
The proposed budget was crafted with the expectation that 74,111 students will be enrolled by 2017, and per pupil spending for the 2016-17 school year would increase to $7,996 compared to $7,909 for the 2015-16 school year.
Local funding would increase to $364.2 million in the proposed budget, versus $333.2 million for the previous year. As a result, local funding would make up a larger share of revenue in the 2016-17 budget than in the previous year—about 62 percent compared to about 58 percent in 2015-16—according to FBISD documents.
Despite a rise in enrollment, Bassett said the district would actually see a drop in state revenue due to Texas’s public education funding formula. In the proposed budget, state funding is projected to be $216.8 million, versus $235.9 million in the 2015-16 school year budget.
Amanda Bubela, FBISD director of External Communications and Media Relations, said the school district’s budget is adopted using preliminary numbers and that actual year-end revenues may be different than what is adopted.
“We do not anticipate any change between now and June 20,” she said.
