Tomball ISD's proposed budget for fiscal year 2018-19 totals $130 million and allows for salary increases, a raise in the starting salary for teachers and hiring new employees. Although the budget proposes no change to the district's property tax rate, Chief Financial Officer Jim Ross proposed a change to the fiscal year start date to make a balanced budget possible for the upcoming fiscal year. "We are looking at a fiscal year change. That's actually how we were able to balance this budget, because if you look at the general fund budget, you'll see that we would have some difficulty [balancing that]," Ross said during the meeting. The Tomball ISD board of trustees met for its first budget workshop for FY 2018-19 on Monday. A second budget workshop that provides a more in-depth look at district expenditures will be held in June before a public hearing on the proposed budget, which is scheduled for August, Ross said. As districts throughout the Greater Houston area are expecting significant budget shortfalls in FY 2018-19, Ross said TISD can avoid a shortfall by approving a change to the start date for the next fiscal year, effective July 1, 2019. Ross said he expects expenses to increase about $5 million as a result of new hires and salary increases in FY 2018-19 while revenues are anticipated to rise by only about $1.5 million. This yields a $3.5 million budget shortfall if the district does not modify its fiscal year, Ross said. "The only way that we could make this balance this year was to change the fiscal year," he said during the meeting. "It's something that we've talked about quite a bit in the past, but it was something that we thought there would be a better time to move to. Well, this just happened to be a better time. That's what is allowing us to go ahead and balance this budget." The Texas Education Code allows school districts to choose a fiscal year from either July 1 to June 30 of the next calendar year or from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31 of the next calendar year. Currently, TISD's fiscal year runs Sept. 1, 2018, through Aug. 31, 2019. The TISD board of trustees will consider a change in the fiscal year start date and take possible action during a regular meeting Tuesday, May 15. If approved Tuesday, TISD would seek approval from the Texas Education Agency, and FY 2019-20 would begin July 1, 2019, instead of Sept. 1, 2019. This would provide TISD a shorter fiscal year for FY 2018-19. The TISD board of trustees meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at the John P. Neubauer Administration Building, located at 310 S. Cherry St., Tomball. Ross also discussed the financial benefits of TISD's limited open enrollment initiative, which was implemented in FY 2017-18 to increase enrollment and retain more local property tax revenue. Here are five highlights from the district's proposed FY 2018-19 budget presented Monday night.