The Alice Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Aug. 29 to accept the district's certified 2025 appraisal tax roll, adopt a balanced 2025–26 budget and pass an ordinance setting the district's tax rate at 1.1722.

Melissa Sanchez, the district's chief financial officer, told the board the budget keeps total fund totals unchanged while moving some amounts between functions. "We prepared it with salary increments of $0.75 an hour for paraprofessionals and auxiliary staff," Sanchez said, and outlined teacher pay increases tied to state funding: $2,000 for teachers with one to two years of experience, $4,000 for those with three to four years, and $8,000 for teachers with five or more years. She also said new teachers will start at $56,400 and that professional and administrative positions were budgeted for a 3% midpoint increase.

Sanchez said the district set campus budgets by expected average daily attendance (ADA): $170 per ADA for Alice High School, $140 per ADA at the middle school and $115 per ADA at elementary campuses. The budget assumes a 91% attendance rate. She reported the district's three major funds as balanced: general fund revenues and expenses of $48,040,596; child nutrition at $4,662,006; and debt service at $5,530,500.

Sanchez explained the district's assessed taxable value for 2025 is $1,233,000,000, a 1.52% decline from the prior year. She attributed the change in large part to the homestead exemption increasing from $100,000 to $140,000; she said that exemption change "still has to be voted on in November." Board materials and Sanchez's presentation showed the proposed maintenance-and-operations (M&O) rate at 0.7252 and the interest-and-sinking (I&S) rate at 0.447, producing the total rate of 1.1722.

Sanchez said the district received additional state funding for teacher pay under recent legislation but still faces local cost pressures for safety mandates, maintenance and rising prices. "The proposed rate will ensure that we have timely debt payments. We complete our capital projects that we've kind of had on hold for a little bit and, just let us continue with the services that we're currently providing our students," she said.

Board action came in three recorded steps: trustees accepted the certified 2025 appraisal tax roll, voted to approve the 2025–26 budget as presented during the public hearing and adopted an ordinance setting the 2025–26 tax rate at 1.1722. Each motion passed on voice votes. Trustees who moved, seconded and verbally voted on those items were recorded at the meeting; the board's minutes list motions and the results.

The board noted a comparison for an example homeowner: using an average market value from 2024–25, Sanchez said the prior taxable value and tax payment produced $91.55 in taxes paid. Under the new exemption and proposed rate, Sanchez said the same example household would show a $0 taxable value and pay $91.55 less than the prior year, reflecting the changed exemption and assessed values.

The board's votes complete budget and tax-rate actions required for the start of the school year; trustees indicated they will monitor implementation and capital projects through the fiscal year.