to say that around 15% of the budgets associated with the new campuses is at least loosely associated with infla- tionary costs.” In TISD, the district saw a 17.2% increase in the actual dollar amount of the monthly construction cost index from the beginning of facil- ity planning to bond adoption for its $494.46 million bond package in November 2021, Ross said in a memo sent to Community Impact . In the memo, Ross said the district never thought an increase of this magnitude would happen. “Changes in the other variable com- ponents must be considered,” Ross said. “Changes such as the type of construction, change in the comple- tion dates and/or decide whether the facility will be constructed at all.” Budget planning Morris said inflation does affect MISD’s overall budget. Last year, the district’s fuel budget nearly doubled from around $500,000 to around $1 million. “Those things have to be accounted for, and we’re going to have to have fuel to get our kids home,” Morris said. “So it’s something that you have to anticipate, and we try to plan our best.” Morris also said the state funding process plays into how the district can respond to inflation. “Based on the state funding sys- tem, we’re limited in the amount of funding we receive,” Morris said. “As of 2022-23, we’re still receiving the same amount of funding per student for the fourth year in a row in spite of inflation. So anytime we have to either respond to or—on the front end—plan for inflationary costs, we’re taking money from some other loca- tion, which makes it challenging.” At the city level, results of the Texas Municipal League Fiscal Conditions Survey—sent out to the organiza- tion’s 1,178 member cities last Decem- ber, with 362 responding—showed a majority of cities with a population under and over 10,000 expect reve- nue to remain constant next year. However, as cities project revenue to remain constant, Doering said he anticipates cost increases in Magno- lia’s upcoming budget, for which the planning should begin in late spring. “Basically, we’re just going to have to increase about everything,” Doer- ing said.
While inflation and prices remain high, a majority of the 362 cities surveyed expect next year’s revenue to remain constant, according to December data from the Texas Municipal League’s Fiscal Conditions Survey. SURVEY SAYS
Outlook for cities under 10,000 in population Magnolia population: 2,303
Outlook for cities over 10,000 in population Tomball population: 12,333
Cities whose current revenue is lower than last year’s revenue:
6.5%
12.7%
Cities that expect lower revenue next year:
2.2%
5.3%
Cities that expect revenue to remain constant next year:
69.3%
26.7%
If the city’s revenue is to remain constant or diminish, what will the city do? When the Texas Municipal League’s Fiscal Conditions Survey asked:
27.6%
10%
of cities said they would most likely postpone or defer capital improvements.
of cities said they would most likely increase user fees.
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SOURCES: TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE FISCAL CONDITIONS SURVEY, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 5-YEAR ESTIMATES/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
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TOMBALL - MAGNOLIA EDITION • MARCH 2023
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