Birdville ISD reviews budget outlook, enrollment and state bills that could alter school funding

Birdville Independent School District trustees on May 8 received a budget workshop briefing on April property-value estimates, enrollment and attendance projections, special education growth, debt-service and recent legislative proposals that could change school funding.

Katie, a district finance staff member presenting the report, said April values prompted the district to increase its preliminary property-value growth assumption from about 4% to 5.36% but cautioned that the April run is early and appeals and later updates will change the numbers. "So with the April taxes, our proposed total tax rate is 1.1815," she said, noting that the law requires districts to calculate and post multiple tax-rate figures and that the publicly posted "no new revenue" rate shows taxes only and can be confusing to taxpayers.

Why it matters: the appraisal updates, projected enrollment and changes to state law affect how much local tax revenue the district keeps and how much state funding it receives. Staff told trustees the district is projecting a modest projected deficit in 2025–26 under current assumptions but expects to erase the current-year deficit when the amended budget is adopted in June.

Key details presented and discussed: - Property values and tax-rate mechanics: Staff reported an April estimate of 5.36% growth in values and said the district has approximately $800 million of property subject to a 10% appraisal cap. The presenter described two different "no new revenue" calculations: a TEA (Texas Education Agency) version that accounts for state funding interactions and a taxes-only version that is the one posted for public notice.

- Enrollment and attendance: The district's demographer had projected a drop of about 262 students; district staff said actual pre-K and other counts have improved and the budget uses a conservative estimate of a 131-student drop for next year. Staff also noted increases in special education full-time-equivalent counts and growth in career and technical education participation.

- Revenue drivers and one-time items: Staff said federal SHARS reimbursements have fallen substantially from prior levels (from roughly $5 million toward about $1 million under new federal percentages), although the district received a one-time payment tied to prior appeals. The presentation listed one-time ESSER-funded payroll and supplement payments that had affected the current-year figures.

- Debt service and prepayments: The presenter highlighted that, between refundings and prepayments, the board's past actions have saved taxpayers about $52.2 million in interest costs. Staff noted proposed prepayments are part of budget planning but that some pending legislation could limit prepayment incentives.

- Accounting and GASB changes: Presenters explained new GASB guidance (SPITA rules) requires some multi-year software contracts to be reported in functions that resemble debt service, moving amounts previously shown as supplies/materials into debt-service categories for accounting purposes.

- Legislative proposals: Staff reviewed several pending measures under consideration in Austin, including a wide school funding bill often called HB 2 (which contains a proposed basic allotment increase and special education-weighting changes), Senate Bill 26 (teacher pay proposals), and other bills that would affect bond elections and debt limits. Staff described a proposal that would require 40% of certain new state funds to be spent on teachers, nurses, librarians and counselors (75% of that 40%) and 25% on nonadministrative staff, and noted complexity in how that requirement would be calculated and reported. The board discussed teacher pay proposals and agreed to wait for final legislative action before adopting compensation changes.

Trustee questions and next steps: Trustees asked for clarifications about appraisal-district work, timing of appeals, the district's assumptions on debt-service prepayments, and the potential effect of a homestead exemption or tax-compression actions at the state level. Staff said they will update figures when final certified values arrive and bring an amended budget to the board for adoption; trustees discussed scheduling a follow-up budget workshop in June after legislation is final.

No budget decisions were adopted at the May 8 workshop; staff said the board will consider adoption of a proposed budget and tax notice in June and adopt a final budget and tax rate after TEA posts certified values later in the summer.