Bastrop ISD finance update: legislature slows final numbers, district preparing budget under current law

Chief Financial Officer Mike White briefed trustees on the district’s budget calendar and the uncertain status of school finance legislation during the May 13 meeting.

White said the Texas House’s education-related measures had advanced but the school finance bill remained in the Senate and that timing for final numbers was uncertain. He told trustees the district must adopt a budget by June 30 and that administrators planned to proceed under current-law assumptions and amend the budget later if the legislature provides new funding.

White reviewed several bills the district is tracking by name, including an education savings account (ESA) bill the governor signed May 3, House Bill 19 (concerns about constraints on defeasing or retiring debt), Senate Bill 4 (homestead exemption discussions), and Senate Bill 1453; he stressed that the session’s end date (June 2 for the regular session) means limited time for final action.

Preliminary certified property values were modestly up, “a little under 3%” from the prior reporting period, White said, and the district continued to plan for student growth and miscellaneous cost pressures tied to the opening of new campuses. He told trustees that some expenditure items (for example, pay raises and expanded program funding) are being held pending final legislative outcomes.

Trustees asked how the district would proceed if the legislature did not settle funding before the board’s next meeting; White said the board could adopt a budget under current law and amend it, or call a special meeting if trustees preferred to delay adoption until more certainty arrived. He reiterated that the district must adopt a budget by June 30 by law.