McAllen ISD adopts $281.06 million budget, sets 0.9638 tax rate; board favors May 2026 bond timing

The McAllen Independent School District Board of Trustees on June 24 adopted the district’s fiscal-year 2025–26 budget, approved an amendment to the current fiscal year’s budget and discussed timing options for a possible bond election after receiving a facilities-needs update from financial advisers.

At a public hearing at the start of the meeting, Deputy Superintendent for Business and Operations Lorena Garcia reviewed the proposed 2025–26 budget and the district’s tax-rate history. Garcia said the district used an average daily attendance (ADA) projection of 17,685.65 and a proposed tax rate of 0.9638. The district’s notice showed that on a $255,000 home the proposed rate would lower an average taxpayer’s bill by about $32.37 compared with the prior year’s levy.

Garcia presented a fund-level summary and explained that the proposed total budget for 2025–26 is $281,061,772, consisting of a $265,565,375 general fund, $13,902,390 for debt service and $1,594,007 for capital projects. She said payroll represents the largest share of the general fund at about 81.99% and that the proposed budget is essentially balanced; it included a modest planned use of fund balance to cover increased raises and other expenses.

The board also approved a June 2025 amendment to the 2024–25 fiscal-year budget. The…