Chief Financial Officer Pam Sanchez provided the board of trustees with the budget update during the July 15 board meeting.
The details
LTISD's proposed general fund budget includes $145.9 million in revenues and $150.1 million in expenditures, resulting in the $4.2 million shortfall.
"House Bill 2 did increase our funding levels; however, there were a lot of expenditures connected to that mandate, so it dwindled that new infusion of money pretty quickly," Sanchez said.
Additionally, the proposed debt service budget has a $987,320 surplus, and there is a balanced food service budget.
Breaking it down
Under updated HB 2 guidance, LTISD is projecting a taxable property value change of -3.9% due to the Legislature’s approval of additional homestead exemptions under Senate Bill 4 and SB 23.
Officials are also projecting an increase to the basic allotment, school safety allotment and special education allotment under HB 2, and increases to employee compensation with a $2,500 pay increase for teachers with three to four years of experience and a $5,000 pay increase for teachers with five or more years of experience.
Included in the proposed budget is a 1% increase based on the midpoint salary for librarians and teachers with one to two years of experience.
A 10% reduction in campus and department budgets and 50% reduction in staff travel budgets is also included in the proposed budget, Sanchez said.
“I do want to commend our principals and directors for working hard to identify these budget reductions in each of their budgets along with alternative professional development and those types of opportunities for their staff,” Sanchez said.
However, there were also some positions that grew based on student needs, including the addition of a special education aide, two Lake Travis High School alternative school teachers and five special education teachers.
Next steps
The board will adopt the budget and tax rates at its Aug. 20 meeting.
