STAFFORD MSD CFO presents balanced 2025–26 draft budget; final adoption set for Aug. 25

STAFFORD MSD officials presented the district's second workshop on the proposed 2025'26 budget and tax rates during a joint meeting with the city council Aug. 5, saying staff expects to adopt a balanced budget and keep the district's tax rate at or below current levels. The board scheduled the formal budget and tax-rate adoption meeting for Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.

District and staff leaders said the certified net taxable value rose modestly for 2025 and that staff are proposing only a fractional decrease in the adopted tax rate. The CFO told trustees the district's refined average daily attendance (ADA) for 2024'25 stands at 3,177 and that staff are modeling a 99% tax-collection rate in next year's revenue projections. The draft also assumes a $55 increase to the state's basic allotment in the coming year.

The presentation reported several specific budget and cash-flow items: the district's certified net taxable value increased by about 3.31%; the proposed tax rate will be slightly lower than the current rate (staff described the decrease as less than half a cent); the district expects to spend roughly $2.4 million in debt-service amortization this fiscal year and is considering using excess debt-service capacity to borrow without raising the tax rate. To manage a seasonal cash shortage before property-tax receipts arrive in January, staff said the district plans to issue a tax anticipation note for $7 million in September, down from $9 million borrowed in the prior year, and expects to repay it when tax receipts arrive.

On the child-nutrition fund, staff said program expenditures are rising and the fund balance will shrink; they project a year-end fund balance around $200,000 for 2025'26 and noted the district is not using general-fund dollars to subsidize meals. Staff also described a reduction in allowable indirect-cost recovery for the child-nutrition program that lowered an indirect-cost line item from previous projections.

Trustees and staff discussed enrollment drivers and program-level detail for the STEM Magnet Academy. Trustees asked where ADA growth was concentrated; staff said the STEM program and certain grade levels are showing the largest gains while some other campuses have small declines. The board and staff discussed the recent state voucher legislation and its potential longer-term effects, with staff saying they do not see an immediate impact for the coming school year but expect guidance and effects to appear in subsequent years.

Trustees raised operations and capital questions. Staff and trustees described ongoing reliance on temporary or partial fixes for aging central HVAC and other capital systems; they said many systems are decades old and that the district is prioritizing limited capital dollars. Board members noted a separate long-term maintenance loan that remains outstanding and a separate maintenance-note payment the district is amortizing. The group discussed that prior bond propositions had aimed to address large capital needs but that voters did not approve the bond, leaving the district to manage with smaller, targeted expenditures.

A trustee asked about compliance with the recently passed Landon Payton Act requiring cardiac response planning and AED readiness. School leadership said the district maintains AEDs and logs their maintenance and that records are entered in the TEA safety-sentinel system; staff acknowledged at least one campus athletic area (tennis courts) may not be within a 90-second walk of an AED for an average walker and said they would follow up to identify options.

No final budget adoption occurred at the Aug. 5 workshop. The board scheduled a formal adoption and tax-rate vote for Aug. 25. The only formal motion at the end of the meeting was to adjourn, which passed 5-0.

Ending: District staff said they will present a final proposal and supporting ADA and revenue detail at the Aug. 25 meeting and that staff will follow up on AED placement and any guidance about vouchers once state rules are released.