Granbury ISD records $16.1 million revenue adjustment after property-value software error; board approves budget amendment
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Summary
CFO told trustees the district received a $16.1 million revenue adjustment tied to a frozen-levy reporting error in property-value software; board approved budget amendments after discussion and cautioned against spending the funds until final state adjustment.
Granbury Independent School District trustees approved budget amendments Tuesday that include a $16.1 million revenue adjustment the district said resulted from an error in property-value reporting.
Emmett Whitefield, the district chief financial officer, told the board the amount stems from a software problem that incorrectly handled frozen-levy values used in state funding calculations. He said the district’s calculation suggested it should have received about $1.6 million but the adjustment produced roughly $16.8 million in revenue.
"My calculations and [Linebarger] kind of confirmed that for me today was we should have got about 1.6 and we ended up with 16.8," Whitefield said during the meeting. Board members asked whether the money could be used for unrestricted purposes; Whitefield said if the funds remain the district's, they could be used generally but cautioned the Texas Education Agency or the comptroller could seek correction.
Whitefield said the issue traces to Southwest Data Systems, a vendor used by several appraisal districts, which the district's outside property-tax attorneys described as a reporting glitch that produced incorrect frozen-levy data on the comptroller's website. Whitefield said TEA did not automatically correct the values on the public site but supplied a corrected memo and that the district filed audit adjustments to reflect correct values.
Board members pressed for clarity on the probability the district will keep the funds; Whitefield described the outcome as roughly "50/50" and said he did not know the statute of limitations for a potential recovery. Trustee discussion included a recommendation to avoid spending the funds until the district's final status is certain.
Trustees voted to approve the budget amendments, including the maintenance and operations adjustment, in two recorded motions. The final vote on the consolidated budget amendment passed with six members in favor and one member temporarily stepped out of the room.
The board also accepted a number of community donations disclosed at the meeting totaling $64,082.19, and the CFO said interest income year-to-date and other financial reports were included in the board packet.
