Wednesday, September 18, 2024
SPRINGTOWN —Springtown Independent School District board of trustees managed to adopt a balanced budget and keep the tax rate about the same, despite a lack of action on public school finance from the state.
The board unanimously approved the 2024-25 budget and tax rate of 95.55 cents per $100 valuation at its meeting Aug. 26 following a presentation by SISD Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Wesley Thomas. Technically, the new tax rate is lower than the last one by less than a cent, but it won’t be enough of a difference for people to notice on their tax bills. Thomas reminded those in attendance at the board meeting that the district is not responsible for determining property appraisals, only setting the tax rate. Taking in the bigger picture, SISD’s tax rate has decreased over the past 20 years.
“Writing a balanced budget right now with the state of school finance, that is a huge, huge win for Springtown ISD,” Thomas said during the meeting. “The board has been very conservative, very good with our tax dollars. Literally, 15 minutes ago, I heard another board is having a board meeting tonight that has historically been in very good financial shape. They're recommending a $1.3 million deficit tonight. We're going to be one of the very, very few that do propose a balanced budget this year, so that's a win.”
Schools across the state are dealing with the decision the legislature made last year not to address public school finance. The state’s funding formulas have not changed since 2019, despite education leaders dealing with higher expenses caused by inflation. For instance, the prices SISD pays for property insurance and school buses have gone up.
“Our buses are astronomically high at this point,” Thomas said, explaining how bus prices have increased by more than $60,000 over the past five years. “We got to have buses; we got to get kids to school.”
Meanwhile, SISD is receiving less local tax collections because of two decisions the legislature (and constitutional amendment voters) made last year to bring relief to taxpayers. School tax rates have been compressed, and the homestead exemption (the amount of a home’s value that can’t be taxed by school districts) was increased from $40,000 to $100,000. Thomas’ presentation showed a decrease in the budgeted amount of tax revenue compared to last year by over one million dollars.
The state’s primary source of school funding, Foundation School Program, offsets the local tax loss, but SISD is expecting to have less state funding this fiscal year than was budgeted for last year, Thomas said.
“We are actively monitoring our student enrollment, and we could potentially receive more state aid this year due to enrollment growth,” he said. “Even though we are budgeting less state aid, we are doing so in order to ensure we place the district in the best fiscal position in the extremely tough times we are experiencing with school funding.”
Thomas said one of SISD’s goals is to “attack” the district’s current debt, which amounts to more than $55 million in principal and interest.
“Through the advice of our financial advisor, we elected to keep the (interest and sinking) tax rate the same so that we may gain additional funds to pay off our existing debt at a faster rate than originally planned,” he said. “This will have long term interest savings on our existing bonds and will eventually save our taxpayers money.”
After the public hearing, Board President Rick Beall reiterated what Thomas said about other districts adopting deficit budgets across the state as the legislature has not increased the public school funding formula.
“Kudos to you and your office and everybody under the admin team to find a way to submit a balanced budget and still pass on raises to our staff,” Beall said to Thomas.
The budget is subject to change, and if it does, amendments will be brought before the board, Thomas said.
