In August, area school districts finalized budgets and tax rates for the 2016-17 school year. Conroe, Montgomery and Willis ISDs were able to factor in salary increases. Conroe and Willis ISD maintained their tax rate from last fiscal year, while Montgomery ISD increased its tax rate.

Conroe ISD

Conroe ISD factored a $5.8 million surplus into its budget for the new school year, but state funding shortages due to the “Robin Hood” plan effect as well as districtwide projects will likely determine how the extra funds are spent. The CISD board of trustees approved a budget of $447.6 million for the 2016-17 school year at its Aug. 16 meeting. The budget maintained its property tax rate of $1.28 per $100 valuation. “There’s no specific plans [for the budget surplus], but with the legislative session coming up and the opening of a new school next year, we have to be prepared,” CISD Chief Financial Officer Darrin Rice said. “I think that puts us in a good position.” The “Robin Hood” plan, a statewide initiative that requires property-rich districts like CISD to send portions of their property tax revenue to the state to be redistributed to less wealthy districts, will result in a net $17.3 million loss in state funding for the district this year, Rice said. The amount is based on the district’s 10.8 percent property value growth in 2015. Still, the district can receive $29.4 million in federal funds for the 2016-17 school year. “Because of the strong local economy in Montgomery County, the “Robin Hood” effect has not had a major impact on Conroe ISD,” Superintendent Don Stockton said. The budget also includes a 3 percent raise on the midpoint for teachers, which raises the salary for new teachers to $51,500. Payroll and benefits account for the largest portion of the budget at 89 percent. Teachers with seven or more years of experience will receive an additional salary adjustment, making the minimum pay for those teachers $53,695.

Montgomery ISD

At its Aug. 16 meeting, the Montgomery ISD’s board of trustees approved a budget of $65.4 million for the 2016-17 school year, which is an overall increase of 2.5 percent from last year. The budget includes a 3 percent midpoint salary increase for teachers, faculty and staff as well as the creation of 16 new teaching positions at various campuses. The tax rate was set at $1.37 per $100 valuation, which is 3 cents higher than the 2015-16 school year. MISD Chief Financial Officer Sharon Fields said the increase was necessary to pay off bonds approved by voters in the May 2015 bond election, which amounted to $256.8 million. The district estimated a possible tax rate increase of 2 to 5 cents when the bond referendum was being promoted. “We did not have an increase on the debt last year because we issued a large portion of bonds, but we just couldn’t avoid it for this year,” Fields said. “We will look at property tax rate again next year hoping we won’t have to have another tax increase.” To maintain a balanced budget, she said the district removed about $900,000 of expenditures, including vehicle and bus purchases, many of which were one-time transactions. About $40.7 million, or 62 percent of the budget, is allotted to payroll, contracted services and supplies and materials for staff and teachers. The second-largest expenditures is maintenance and operations, which accounts for $7.4 million and about 11 percent of the overall budget. “We are very conservative and fiscally responsible, so we budget conservatively and we try to be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars and keep the best interest of our staff, students and community in mind,” Fields said.

Willis ISD

The Willis ISD board of trustees approved a $57.6 million budget for the 2016-17 school year as well as a tax rate of $1.39 per $100 valuation at its Aug. 17 meeting—the same as last year’s rate. The budget raised the starting teacher annual salary from $44,000 to $46,000 and included a 5 percent raise for all district employees. “[In January] after my evaluation with the board we worked on board goals, and this year we really wanted to give a larger [raise] than the normal 3 percent,” WISD Superintendent Tim Harkrider said. “It was a big goal because I haven’t found many other districts able to give that 5 percent raise. I was excited about being in a position [ourselves] as a district to do that for our staff and help us maintain a competitive position in the community.” WISD’s budget is based off a zero percent growth model, he said, and is one the district has operated on for several years while successfully maintaining balanced budgets and low tax rates. Payroll accounts for 81.7 percent of the budget at $47 million, and the second-most expensive line item—maintenance and operations—received an 11 percent increase, pushing it to just over $8 million. Harkrider said the increase is due to climbing construction costs, but because the district does not have any new pending campuses, it is able to keep the figure relatively low. Harkrider said the district plans to sell the remainder of its bonds from the $109.5 bond referendum, which voters approved in 2015, next year without having to raise taxes. “We would complete the entire bond project with no tax increase to taxpayers, which is huge considering the impact it could have had,” he said.