The Friendship Board of Trustees on Aug. 1 held a public hearing on the district’s 2025–26 budget and adopted the budget and a tax rate that keeps the district’s combined rate at $1.15067 per $100 of taxable value.
Chief Financial Officer Pauline Reese presented the budget during the public hearing and walked trustees through enrollment, revenue sources, and required notices. Reese said the presentation relied on the district’s existing $100,000 and $10,000 homestead exemptions but noted the administration will move forward in budget materials with a proposed $140,000 homestead exemption and a $60,000 exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners that will go to voters in November.
The budget adoption follows required preliminary steps. Reese told the board that the district completed a 24–25 year-end projection and proposed a 25–26 budget that includes employee compensation, operating costs for the newly opened Memorial High School, additional transportation routes under the Durham contract, and program expansion. She said the district built the 25–26 budget on an enrollment estimate of 11,710 students and reported the 24–25 snapshot enrollment was 11,770 with a final ADA of 10,710.107.
Reese also described food-service and debt-service items in the proposed budget. She said the child nutrition program has been addressing a multi-year issue of excess fund balance required by Texas Department of Agriculture rules and showed a planned spend-down of about $675,000. On debt service, Reese said the district sold remaining 2024 bond issuances and will use a small amount of fund balance in interest-and-sinking to maintain the district’s 40¢ I&S rate.
Trustees moved and approved the budget, with the administration’s recommendation to adopt the budgets for the general fund, child nutrition fund and debt service fund and to set the I&S and M&O components of the tax rate separately as required by state law. The board approved the tax-rate ordinance that maintains a 40¢ I&S rate and a 75.67¢ M&O rate, producing the combined $1.15067 rate. The administration presented the rate as 4.227% below the county-calculated no-new-revenue rate.
Why it matters: The adopted budget funds a newly opened high school, funds staff compensation, and preserves the district’s current debt-service structure while preparing a November ballot item on expanded homestead exemptions. The package affects property-tax collections, debt-service planning and classroom staffing decisions for 2025–26.
Key decisions and next steps: Trustees approved the 2025–26 budget and the tax ordinance tonight. The homestead exemption proposals will be placed on a November ballot as required for voter approval. The administration will proceed with implementing the budgeted payroll and operating plans.