Education
BY CHLOE YOUNG
Georgetown ISD is expecting to adopt a balanced budget next fiscal year after making $3.73 million in proposed budget cuts. In April, GISD anticipated a budget shortfall for FY 2025-26. Now, the district is projecting an about $40,700 surplus after “working very hard on consolidating and cutting” its budget, Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hanna said at a May 5 board workshop. The district expects to reduce contracted services by $3.4 million next fiscal year, according to documents. GISD will instead begin employing its own custodians next school year, Hanna said. Another change includes a $1.4 million increase in property tax collections due to property value growth. The proposed budget is based on an average daily attendance rate of 93%. GISD could gain an added $450,000 in revenue if that rate increased to 93.5%, Hanna said. Georgetown ISD 2025-26 fiscal year projected budget GISD eyes tax- rate election
What else?
What they’re saying
“There’s nothing about right now in the school district that indicates that we’re calling for an election next month or the month after that,” Superintendent Devin Padavil said about calling a VATRE. “However, as we talk about looking three, four years out at our financial landscape, is this something the board of trustees wants to consider?” While discussing calling a VATRE, district officials said they wanted to inform community members about how the increased revenue would be spent. GISD would need to survey community members on whether they would support the VATRE, Padavil said. “We need to really reinforce that this problem that we’re in has nothing to do with our own inefficiencies,” trustee Stephanie Blanck said. Further action from the state Legislature, which is set to adjourn June 2, could impact the GISD budget, Hanna said. House Bill 2 would raise the state’s basic allotment of funding per student by $395. The $7.7 billion proposal was passed by the House and received by the Senate in late April. “It’s a shame that school districts have to consider going to taxpayers and asking for an election instead of being appropriately funded just to stay financially healthy,” Padavil said. The GISD board will review the FY 2025-26 budget June 2 before voting to approve the budget and compensation plan June 16, according to district information.
District officials discussed whether to call a voter-approval tax rate election. Districts must hold a VATRE to adopt a tax rate that is higher than its maximum tax rate set by the state. Amid rising property values, the district’s maintenance and operations tax rate is projected to be compressed by around $0.04 from $0.6969 per $100 valuation to $0.6549 per 100 valuation, Hanna said. Additional revenue from a potential VATRE could be used for teacher and staff salaries, maintaining programs and reducing budget deficits, Hanna said. The district’s proposed budget does not include a pay raise for staff. Providing a 1% raise would cost the district $1.9 million, Hanna said. The district would need to decide whether to call a VATRE by Aug. 18 to hold the election in Novem- ber, she said. GISD is considering calling a VATRE to raise its tax rate by one to four copper pennies to gain additional revenue. Copper pennies are any tax effort above a district’s compressed M&O tax rate plus six cents. Estimated yield per penny
Tax rate increase
Revenue gained
Recapture Net revenue
Revenues
Expenditures
1 copper penny
$748,436
$1,712,778 -$964,342
$170,265,474
$170,224,749
2 copper pennies
$3,425,556 -$1,928,684 $1,496,872
3 copper pennies
$5,138,334 -$2,893,026 $2,245,744
4 copper pennies
$6,851,112 -$3,857,368 $2,993,744
SOURCE: GEORGETOWN ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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