What to know
The preliminary budget includes an estimated total revenue of $700.05 million and estimated expenditures of $711.97 million, as previously reported by Community Impact.
The board also adopted a tax rate of $0.9496 per $100 valuation, with the maintenance and operation portion of the tax rate decreasing by $0.0325 since 2023-24 due to tax compression from House Bill 3 and the debt service increasing by $0.02 per $100 valuation due to passage of the 2023 bond package. Compared to the 2023-24 tax rate of $0.9621 per valuation, there is an overall decrease in the tax rate of $0.0125 per $100 valuation, CISD Chief Financial Officer Karen Garza said.
The breakdown
The total budget of $711.97 million includes:
- $633.33 million for payroll
- $35.36 million for contracted services
- $28.40 million for supplies and materials
- $14.88 million for equipment and other items
What they’re saying
“To all district employees and teachers who are disillusioned because there is no pay raise, I see you, we see you, we haven't forgotten about you. It is really unfortunate that we are in this situation. ... Just please know we will take care of you when we can,” trustee Stacey Chase said.
“At the end of the day, we are here to educate these kids, and if they don't have the staff or the curriculum of the teachers, extracurriculars, or lunch line, these kids are at a deficit. The legacy that Conroe ISD has created over the years by serving our students is at stake,” board President Skeeter Hubert said.
"State law requires that we reduce the tax rate. ... The board does not have the option to keep the tax rate the same. ... The board does not have the option to say ... we want to increase our funding so that we can give a raise to our employees,” Superintendent Curtis Null said.
