Kirbyville CISD Budget and Tax Rate information 8/19/2024
Summary of the budget situation for 2024-25
The meeting previously scheduled for August 27th was cancelled as the board held the Budget/Tax Rate meeting on August 19th.
KCISD has been conservatively managed in regards to finances - the district has put money in the “bank” each year for the last several years.
The budget outlook in early June with rough numbers looked to be a deficit of about $900,000 (4-5% of our budget).
We have taken steps to reduce expenditures including absorbing positions and refining the budget to get the deficit to approximately $600,000.
The budget includes a 3% raise for KCISD employees returning in the same positions and an increase in custodial pay.
The board has considered the best way to handle the situation.
Budget Plan of Action:
There are three aspects of budget planning that were considered: cutting expenditures, adopting a deficit budget, and adopting a balanced budget which would trigger a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE).
Absorbing positions and cutting other expenditures in the budget were done over the summer, including the use of federal funds or other sources of revenue.
The district could pass a deficit budget and still be okay financially.
The VATRE is automatically triggered in law if the board adopts a tax rate above the maximum compressed tax rate (MCR).
Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election
A VATRE is a mechanism in school finance law where the board of trustees adopts a tax rate above the MCR which the voters of the district must approve - otherwise it rolls back to the MCR.
KCISD would be asking voters to approve $.03/hundred dollar property value “tax increase”.
In rough numbers this would generate about $117,000 locally in taxes across the whole district
and state would contribute approximately $710,000 garnering over a 6 to 1 ratio of state aid to local funds.
Also, as a point of reference, raising the tax rate $.03 would cost a homeowner with their
homestead appraised at $250,000 an additional $45 for this year in property taxes.
When comparing last year’s tax rate with the proposed VATRE tax rate, (2023:$1.0557, 2024:
$1.0668) there is an increase of just over 1 penny ($0.0111) than last year.
Recent information:
The budget and proposed tax rate were finalized and presented to the board and approved at the August 19th board meeting.
A voter-approval tax rate election is warranted, so we will begin an information campaign to educate the voters about what the wording on the ballot means and what the district needs are to balance the budget. The school district can only provide
information – not advocate for the approval of the tax rate election!
You can go to the website for updates and view a flyer with concise information.
Please contact Stephen Edwards at sedwards@kirbyvillecisd.org or (409)423-2284, if you have any questions or would like more details.
