Education
BY AUBREY VOGEL
As Lamar CISD prepares for a potential November bond and Katy ISD nears its 2025-26 budget approval, district officials helped break down district funding. Districts break down funding
Zooming in
Diving deeper
School districts approve budgets annually which fund everything from supplies to teacher salaries as well as unfunded state mandates, district officials said. Funding sources include local revenue from property taxes, state revenue from student enrollment and average daily attendance, and federal funding to support specific programs or initiatives.
Bonds, which are issued debts, can be called when districts determine a funding need for larger capital projects such as new schools.
90M Historic school bonds
Katy ISD Lamar ISD
2014 2010 2006 2002 1999 1996 1994
$130M
$324M $315M $269M
Budget vs. bond
Budget
Terms to know
$459M
• Approved by school boards annually • Majority used to fund staffing with little available for infrastructure projects • Includes some funding from the state • Can raise property taxes but not always
$748M
General Fund: Also referred to as Maintenance and Operating Budget (M&O) , the primary fund used for daily school operations—such as paying staff, buying supplies and keeping schools running Interest & Sinking Fund (I&S): The fund used to repay debt from bonds; separate from the General Fund Capital Budget: A budget for long-term investments such as infrastructure, buildings or equipment
$240.6M
$609.2M
2017
$445.5M
Bond
$666.8M $676.2M
2020 2021 2022 2023 2025
• Must be approved by voter majority • Primary source for funding infrastructure • No state funds are available • Can raise property taxes but not always
$1.52B
$840.3M
$1.99B*
SOURCES: KATY ISD, LAMAR CISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
*PROPOSED BOND HAS NOT BEEN CALLED AS OF PRESS TIME NOTE: KATY ISD HAD FAILED BONDS IN MAY 2006 AND 2013, WHILE LCISD HAD A FAILED BOND IN 2023.
SOURCES: KATY ISD, LAMAR CISD/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCES: KATY ISD, LAMAR CISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
What else?
$1.50 $1.00 $0.50 $2.00 0 Historical tax rates
Katy ISD
Lamar ISD
boards in August or September and are paid by residents in their annual property taxes. “It’s important to note that voter approval of a bond grants the district to issue debt but does not ensure an increase in the tax rate,” LCISD Chief Communications Officer Sonya Cole-Hamilton said.
Both budgets and bonds affect the district’s tax rate, which includes both the I&S and M&O rates. Each year, schools set a property tax rate, which can only be increased by a certain percentage before needing to be approved by voters in an election. Tax rates are typically approved by school
SOURCES: KATY ISD, LAMAR CISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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