by WES FERGUSON
Hays CISD is being pinched on all sides. The state of Texas has sharply cut funding. Local property taxes are lagging behind projections. And new students keep arriving every day.
The district has weathered the storm for now, however, unveiling a proposed budget that is balanced, does not raise the tax rate for property owners and includes pay raises for teachers.
“We are being aggressively cautious,” Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said. “We know that there is going to be less money coming to Hays CISD next year. We’re metering out the negative impact in funding over two years.
“Beyond that, it gets even more dicey in terms of whether the economy rebounds and schools receive full funding or not.”
Dipping into reserves
The district is having to dip into its general fund to pay for bond debt in the coming fiscal year. To cover a shortfall in funds used to pay off debt from a 2008 bond election, HCISD will transfer $2.5 million from the general fund.
Using reserve funds to pay back debt is not something the school district can make a habit of, Lyon said.
“We’re doing it to make it through the recession and a spike in debt,” he said. “It’s not sustainable. You can do it once or maybe twice.”
The 2008 bond package was used to build new schools in the fast-growing district, Lyon said. When school officials were figuring out how to finance the bond package, however, they had assumed that taxable values would grow by about $300 to $375 million a year for five years. Instead, those values have grown by a more meager $41 million in 2010 and $110 million in 2011.
“Next year we’ll have to face the music,” Lyon said.
To pay down debt in 2012-13, he explained, the school administration is recommending another transfer of $2 million from the general fund, as well as a tax rate increase of $2.87 cents per $100 of taxable property value.
Operations surplus
On a brighter note, the budget for operations and maintenance, which is separate from the budget for debt repayment, includes a $1.3 million surplus. The budget increases the district’s contribution to employee health care premiums, provides for a teacher salary increase and up to a 3 percent raise for other employees, and expands funding for key academic initiatives.
This year’s operations budget – $111.1 million – is nearly 5 percent smaller than last year’s. When the state of Texas announced that funding would be drastically reduced in the coming school year, Hays CISD also announced sharp cuts.
Numerous positions were eliminated, including 16 intervention teachers, for a total force reduction of $3.67 million. District-wide budget cuts accounted for an additional $1.8 million, while higher teacher-to-student ratios saved more than $1 million.
“Every teacher that was affected by the reduction-in-force action that desired to continue teaching in Hays CISD is teaching here next year,” Lyon said in a prepared statement.
The proposed budget also raises revenue by about $270,000, through a combination of school bus advertising and energy conservation.
Hays CISD projected enrollment
2010-11…..15,325
2011-12…..15,825
2012-13…..16,425
2013-14…..17,024
2014-15…..17,624
