At a special meeting of the San Marcos CISD board of trustees last week, the board adopted an official budget for the 2008-2009 school year. It totals nearly $70 million.
—Payroll Costs: $43,719,733
—Professional & Contracted Services: $6,173,160
—Supplies & Materials: $3,303,287
—Other Operating Expenditures: $1,076,013
—Debt Service: $1,257,561
—Capital Outlay: $117,500
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According to Mike Abild, the assistant superintendent for business & support services:
The 2008-2009 budget is funded primarily by local tax revenues and state funding. Local property taxes and related revenues fund over $32.9 million (59.17%) of the General Fund budget. State funding provides approximately $21.2 million (38.07%) of funding for the General Fund. Smaller amounts are provided by other local funds ($1.4 million) and federal funding ($150,000).
The District’s 2008 taxable property increased by approximately 7% (a $213 million increase from the 2008 budget-year to the 2009 budget-year). This increase in value resulted in a net revenue gain of approximately $2.36 million for the General Fund.
The “hold harmless” provisions of House Bill One (HB1) call for a nearly dollar-for-dollar reduction in state funding for each new dollar of local funding, resulting in an approximately $2 million reduction in state funding for 2009. The District expects to receive approximately $21.2 million of state funding for 2008-2009, a decrease of approximately $314,000 from budget-year to budget-year.
The 2008-2009 budget includes a $1,375 salary increase for educators (teachers, counselors, librarians, and nurses), an increased beginning teacher salary ($39,200), and a 3% mid-point increase in wages for all other employee categories. Additional salary enhancements at steps 1 and 12-19, and an increased “masters degree stipend” (from $1,200 to $1,500), were also included to increase the competitiveness of the District’s salaries. Salary increases, totaling approximately $1.2 million, represent the single largest change in operating expenditures for the 2008-2009 budget.
Other significant budget increases include fuel costs ($200,000), utility costs ($253,981), and debt service costs relating to vehicle purchases ($124,798). The 2008-2009 budget also includes numerous budget reductions, including a net $412,528 reduction in personnel costs resulting from staff reductions and adjustments. Additional budget reductions include appraisal costs ($61,638), property/fleet insurance costs ($22,023), and one-time capital outlay budgets ($57,500).
The existing General Fund tax rate of $1.04 will adequately fund the proposed General Fund budget for 2008-2009. Additionally, the existing Debt Service Fund tax rate of $0.33 is adequate to accommodate the District’s debt service requirements for the upcoming fiscal year. The 2008 tax rate is as follows:
2007 Official Rate 2008 Proposed Rate
General Fund Rate (M&O) $1.04 $1.04
Debt Service Fund Rate (I&S) $0.33 $0.33
Total Tax Rate $1.37 $1.37