Alamo Heights ISD adopts 2025–26 budget with projected $792,000 surplus after legislative changes

The Alamo Heights Board of Trustees on June 17 adopted the school district's 2025'26 budget, with trustees and staff saying the plan currently shows $792,000 in revenues over expenses after accounting for legislative changes, mandated salary increases and local cost reductions.

The board approved the budget after a presentation by Matt Streeter, the district accountant, who told trustees the district expects to refine numbers in August once certified property values and additional TEA guidance arrive. Streeter said legislative actions this year increased targeted allotments but left major inflationary pressures and legacy deficits largely unaddressed.

Trustees said the budget reflects three main influences: new state funding lines after the recent legislative session, local budget reductions enacted over the past months, and required compensation increases for teachers that the legislature partially funded. Streeter described the legislative outcome as covering a portion of the district's needs: "After we back out the mandates, you can probably count on about $300,000 coming from this pool of money to assist with the places you need parts," he said during the presentation.

The board's presentation laid out how state changes feed into local calculations: the district projected teacher retention allotments that, by statute, require districts to provide $8,000 increases for teachers with five or more years of experience and $4,000 for teachers with three to four years. Streeter told the board those mandated raises increase payroll costs and that the district must also cover payroll-related employer costs for the raises.

Trustees noted other legislative allotments that carry spending requirements and limited flexibility. Streeter said some of the new state funding is earmarked for specific uses and therefore cannot be applied to offset earlier-year deficits or general inflation. He advised the board the district's positive balance is a product of local cost reductions combined with the new allotments.

The budget assumes the expanded homestead exemption that the board said it expects will pass statewide; Streeter said staff used that assumption in preparing tax-rate estimates and the budget, and that county appraisal and TEA confirmations expected later in June and July will be used to update the plan. Trustees flagged that final tax-rate decisions and any voter-approval tax-rate election would be handled at August board meetings.

Board discussion also covered health insurance and payroll. Streeter said the district will increase employer contributions to the self-funded health plan by $41 per covered person (with a $10-per-person employee share) to rebuild the plan's fund balance after claim variability.

The board voted to adopt the budget in a single motion; the clerk recorded the motion as approved. Trustees emphasized the budget is subject to future amendment once certified property values and additional TEA guidance are available.

What happens next: staff will refine the budget using certified property values and TEA guidance in July and August, present the updated numbers at the GMP/budget meeting in August, and return the recommended tax-rate action to the full board for formal approval.