Socorro ISD board adopts 2025'26 proposed budget after public hearing; tax rate and efficiency audit discussed
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Summary
At a public hearing June 24 trustees considered the proposed FY 2025'26 budget and tax-rate timeline. Administration presented assumptions including a projected enrollment decline of 772 students, a projected 13.84% rise in preliminary property values and $26 million in new state funding via House Bill 2; the board approved the budget.
The Socorro Independent School District board held a public hearing June 24 and approved the proposed fiscal 2025'26 budget after administration presented revenue, enrollment and tax-rate assumptions the board will use while finalizing the tax rate later this summer.
Chief financial officer David Solis said the proposed budget assumes a projected enrollment decline of about 772 students, for a budgeted enrollment of roughly 45,900 students and an estimated average daily attendance (ADA) of 41,540. Preliminary appraisal data released April 30 showed a projected increase in property values of 13.84 percent, Solis said, but he cautioned the number would change when new homestead and business exemptions passed by the Legislature are applied and final certified values are posted by July 25.
Solis said the district expects to receive approximately $26 million in new state funding through House Bill 2, but about $18 million of that is earmarked for state-mandated expenses such as teacher pay raises; that leaves about $8 million in flexible funding to help balance the budget. Solis presented a proposed tax-rate framework described in the meeting as "a dollar and 9 tenths of a cent per $100 of property value," with a maintenance and operations (M&O) portion described as "61 and 9 tenths cents" and a debt-service portion at 39 cents; he noted final rate adoption requires certified appraisal values and further TEA calculations.
The district also explained legal steps if it later chooses to call a voter election to increase the M&O rate (a Voter-Approval Tax Rate or V.A.T.R.). If the board decides to adopt a rate exceeding the voter-approval threshold, it must call an election; the meeting record summarized statutory procedural deadlines for auditor selection and an efficiency audit required prior to a V.A.T.R. election. The board approved a request to select an auditor to ensure deadlines can be met if the board later moves to call a rate election.
Solis also summarized the proposed fund budgets: the general fund (instruction, staffing and daily operations) is balanced in the proposal using the expected HB2 revenue; the child nutrition fund remains self-sustaining; and the debt-service fund reflects scheduled payments and a planned defeasance. Trustees asked clarifying questions about the hold-harmless provisions for property-tax exemptions and how exemptions could affect local revenue; Solis said the Legislature provided a hold-harmless mechanism but cautioned the calculation is complex.
After the public hearing the board voted to approve the proposed 2025'26 budgets for the general fund, child nutrition and debt service. Final adoption of the tax rate will await certified appraisal values and additional TEA guidance, with statutory deadlines through late summer and September.
